Megamix Tournament: The Original
by SSBFreak
Summary: Re-posting the original tournament that I just managed to recover! The tournament's over, but you can still read along with this classic fic that started the Megamix Tournament!
1. FAQS

**Question 1: Wait. This is your first tournament? But you completed the second one.**

Answer: This is the first tournament I did, before Megamix 2. I created a website for the tournament and ran it out of that.

**Question 2: Why didn't you put it up here?**

Answer: The website that the tournament was stored on went down sometime after I finished it, taking the entire tournament with it. I literally had nothing left of it, so I couldn't put it up again.

**Question 3: Where did you find it again?**

Answer: I finally found a storage cache of the tournament. This means that I've finally got access to the tournament and I can put it up here for you guys to look at.

**Question 4: Was there anything different about this tournament?**

Answer: Mainly a smaller roster. I had a Marvel Comics node, a Tekken node and a Last Blade node, but other than that, a lot of the franchises here were used in the second tournament.

**Question 5: Can I vote on this?**

Answer: No. The tournament's long-completed by now. All I need to do is put up the sections and results.

**Question 6: How old is this?**

Answer: OLD. You see the publishing date for the second tournament? I must have started writing the first tournament at least a year and a half before that. As such, the writing style for the tournament is a little poor compared to what I can do now.


	2. Prologue Part 1

**(Megamix Dome)**

The sun hung high in the sky over a huge city, showing that it was a clear afternoon. This was VG Central, the center point of all nodes, where people from every node imaginable came to hang around regularly.

In the middle of the city was an enormous hotel big enough to house more than three hundred rooms. Connected to it was a huge dome-like building that stood about half as tall as the hotel.

This dome was soon to become the home of the Megamix Tournament, hosted by a couple of young men, the leader of which being a fan of the original tournament theirs was based off of.

Inside the dome, a young man that looked almost twenty, flipped through papers on a clipboard as he paced around an announcer's booth, making sure that he didn't forget anything. He had a full head of blonde hair, a blonde mustache, a small soul patch and bushy sideburns that went just past his ears. He was clearly that taller of the two hosts.

SSBFreak looked up from the clipboard at his friend, another blonde young man. "All of the preparations have been made?"

Unknown1 looked at a similar clipboard for a few seconds and nodded. "Yep."

"Invitations for fighters?"

"All 270 of them."

"The hotel is ready?"

"The hotel staff is too."

"How about the security force?"

"I hired five of the best people I could find to lead the force. Will that do?"

SSBFreak's eyebrows lifted. "Who did you get?"

Unknown1 walked towards the door to the announcer's booth and pushed open the door. Five people walked in.

"Master Chief." Unknown1 pointed at a soldier in futuristic, green armour. "He's got attitude problems, but he's the best I could get."

"Knuckles the Echidna." The next one was a short, red echidna with spiked gloves. "The strongest thing with fur."

Next in line was a crazed-looking man with dreadlocks. "Psymon Stark, snowboarder extreme."

Psymon grinned. "Yep! Me and my buddy will be there when there's something that needs to be done!" He turned to his shoulder, where his tattoo rested. "Don't talk like that! These guys were kind enough to hire us, so at least TRY to look excited!" The other members of the force slowly moved away from him.

Unknown1 leaned sideways, closer to SSBFreak. "He doesn't exactly have both oars in the water." He whispered.

The next member, the lone woman, was next. "Joanna Dark. She's got the most experience for security forces, so she was definitely a must."

Finally, there was a chubby, yet tall, man with a samurai sword on his back. "Last, but not least, Samurai Goroh. It took a while to get him to come, but when I told him Captain Falcon was competing, he agreed. I have no idea why he suddenly changed his mind."

"That'll do." SSBFreak looked at the five security force leaders. "You five are aware that you'll all be in charge of more than two-hundred fifty fighters, right?" After all five nodded, SSBFreak continued. "Good. Now, the fighters should be receiving the invitations by now, so I suggest you all get ready.

**(Southtown; Streets) **

Terry Bogard walked down a sidewalk as he studied an invitation in his hand.

"Hmm…This doesn't look like a KOF invitation. This looks more like what I received from that guy at the UVR." He mused.

"That's exactly what it is."

Terry looked over his shoulder and saw Kyo Kusanagi walking over, a similar invitation in his hand.

"Everyone from the KOF node is supposed to meet here to get picked up with the guys from the Fatal Fury node." Kyo explained.

"You're going too?" Terry asked.

Kyo nodded. "Yeah. So is the rest of Team Japan."

"What do you make of it?" Terry asked.

"I don't know. It may turn out to be a huge plot by several of the villains from different nodes, just like how it is everywhere else, but then again, maybe this time it'll just be a normal tournament." Kyo shrugged.

"The chances of that happening are pretty slim, but there's always the hope." Terry sighed.

"Well, look who it is!"

Terry and Kyo turned in the direction of the voice and saw the USA Sports Team walking over.

Terry's eyes widened in surprise. "You guys were invited?"

"Well, two of us were." Lucky sighed. "Brian didn't get an invitation, but he's opted to sit in the audience and watch D! and I fight."

"Ah, I'm not too upset." Brian shrugged. "Lucky and D! are entering and that's all that matters."

"Well, it's great to see you guys back in the action." Kyo said with a smile. "Hopefully, you guys do better than in KOF."

Heavy D! raised his hand as if to stop Kyo. "Hey, now. Your team was the one to beat us and you guys ended up winning the tournament."

Terry turned to Kyo. "He has a point."

Kyo shrugged. "Yeah. I guess."

**(Japan; Ryu's Training Ground) **

Ryu continued training in solitude, making sure that he was all ready for the tournament he had been invited to. He was almost certain that the likes of Sagat, Kyo, Terry Bogard, Gesse Howard and M. Bison had been invited as well and wanted to make sure that he was ready to take all of them on at once if he had to.

"Hey, Ryu!"

Turning around, Ryu saw Ken and his family coming over.

Ryu nodded. "Hello, Ken. I take it you received an invitation to this tournament as well?"

Ken nodded in reply. "I did. So did Guile, Chun-Li, Sakura, Dan and the rest of the gang. Even R. Mika got an invitation."

"Guy and Cody too?"

"As well as Rolento and Sodom. These Metro City guys are gonna be tough to beat, especially if they all take to the ring at the same time."

"Well, I have confidence that you two can take them all out if you're both in the ring." Eliza pointed out.

"Yeah! You guys are awesome when you team up!" Mel added.

Ryu smirked. "Thanks, Mel."

**(Budehuc Castle) **

"Are you sure that it says what it says?" Geddoe asked.

Thomas, the young castle master looked over the many invitations he held, each one addressed to a specific person in the castle. "Yes. More than thirty-five of us have been invited to fight in this tournament, even some of us who don't fight."

"What do you make of it, noble Hugo?" Shiba, the huge lizardman, asked as Thomas gave him an invitation.

"Well, I personally think we should accept!" Hugo, the young leader of the army, said cheerily. "I mean, we're from an RPG game! No one will be able to figure out how we fight and that'll give us the advantage!" He gave a shrug. "Who knows? We may surprise everyone!"

"Yeah." Percival muttered. "One of us may get an elimination."

"Yuh-Huh-Huh." Landis chuckled, eyeing the invitation in his hand. "The Grim Reaper will be very happy at this tournament."

**(Unknown location; SSB HQ) **

"Mama mia!" Mario said in astonishment. "We've-a actually been-a invited to a-this a-tournament!"

"This is amazing!" Fox McCloud said as he looked at the invitation in his hand. "We're actually going to fight against the finest fighters in the VG universe!"

"Even we were invited!" Bowser gave a hearty laugh. Gannondorf quickly joined.

"Well, our top priority is to pack, and then train. We will probably be unfamiliar to a lot of the fighters and will need to be on our toes the whole time." Luigi pointed out. Donkey Kong nodded.

Everyone left the main lobby of the SSB HQ to go pack. Mewtwo was about to follow when he saw Ness starting to look uneasy.

"What's wrong, Ness?" Mewtwo asked his fellow psychic.

"I'm getting an uneasy feeling." Ness said. "Something's going to happen. I just know it."

Mewtwo was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly felt the same weird vibe. It was definitely dark and evil, whatever it was.

"We'll keep it to ourselves for now." Mewtwo said. "There's no use getting everyone worried if nothing's going to happen. But when we get to the dome this tournament will be held in, I say we keep our eyes and minds open."

"I agree." Ness said. For being a mere boy, the young psychic was definitely more mature than he should be. "I say we go pack. We need to leave soon."

**(Shadaloo HQ) **

Bison laughed as he played with the invitation in his hand as he sat in his throne. He knew for a fact that Ryu had been invited, and figured this was a great chance to get him.

Looking at his three commanders, Bison rose from his seat. "I imagine that you got invitations as well?" He asked.

Balrog nodded. "I got mine right here."

Vega also nodded. "This tournament will be perfect for us to strike."

Birde, however, shrugged. "Gee, I didn't get an invitation."

Bison looked at Birdie. Ever since Sagat had left Shadaloo, Birdie had become his replacement, although Sagat clearly did a better job.

"It doesn't matter. You shall accompany us and still strike when we do, but you just won't be in the ring." Bison said.

Birdie nodded. "As you wish, boss."

"You three go pack and get ready." Bison said. "I have to get some serious planning done.


	3. Prologue Part 2

**(The Arena)**

The night of the tournament quickly came. All 270 of the fighters, including the mystery fighters which none of the other fighters knew about, had arrived and had settled into the hotel.

SSBFreak and Unknown1 sat in two chairs in the announcer's booth, each of them having a microphone resting on the desk built into the wall underneath the window overlooking the ring and bleachers.

The setup for the dome was basic. The bleachers went all the way around the arena, which was a simple square ring surrounded with rubber ropes. The ring was suspended in midair by several incredibly strong cables. Even with this, the ring was strong enough to handle all of the big guys in the tournament at once. The family and friends of the fighters had a special seating, and the only area of seats not packed with screaming fans was the empty eliminated seating section, which was big enough to hold all of the fighters in the tournament. The sound booth was attached to the wall a good ways away from the announcer's booth, and was visible from the ramp where each of the fighters would come from when announced.

Each of the members of the security force had taken their squad of men and had scattered around various parts of the dome. SSBFreak looked at Unknown1 and nodded.

"Everything ready?" He asked. "Lighting?"

"Check."

"Microphones?"

Unknown1 pressed a few buttons. "Check."

"The first fighters ready to come out?"

"Check."

"Okay. I guess we can start."

"You start us off and explain everything."

SSBFreak nodded. "Okay." Switching on his microphone, SSBFreak started his announcement.

"Welcome, one and all, to the first ever Megamix Tournament!" SSBFreak said. At the mention of the tournament name, the entire crowd cheered. "I'm SSBFreak, and this is Unknown1. We're your hosts and we'll be announcing the tournament until the end!"

A huge, white portal suddenly appeared underneath the arena, then vanished, turning invisible. A field of energy then surrounded the arena.

"Now, the arena is surrounded by a force field, so no eliminated fighters can get thrown into the stands." Unknown1 added. "And, paying homage to the original UVR, anyone thrown from the arena gets pulled into the portal and deposited into a random node for ten minutes, just for everyone here to see how well they fare!"

A huge, multi-paneled TV box lowered and stopped about a hundred feet off the arena.

"Our cameras will be focusing on different fighters for those who can't see the ring too well." SSBFreak continued. "And if someone is eliminated, you will all see who gets credited for it."

"If anyone doesn't know about the UVR, let us explain…" Unknown1 said.

"Get on with the fighting, already!" A red hedghog shouted from the crowd.

**(Dome Hotel; 57th Floor) **

"Okay, so are you all aware of what we're to do?" Bison asked the table of villains.

Because none of them came out for at least a section, Bison had decided to gather the main villains of the tournament and explain his plan. The main reason they all agreed to help Bison was because they would all get unimaginable power if they succeeded.

"Yes. And we could pull it off so much easier if we had more help." Heihachi Mishima sighed.

"Well, that can easily we solved." Bison replied. "How many people can you guys get? I can manage Balrog, Vega, Birdie and possibly Garuda."

"I don't have that many." Rugal Berenstien explained, looking down. "I can only manage Vice and Mature."

"I don't have much more." Heihachi said. "Lee and Kuma I can manage. Anna Williams is also a possibility."

"Normally, I would have Billy with me, but he's concentrating on actually winning the tournament, so we may as well count him out." Geese said. "Ripper and Hopper are my only other men with me."

"I don't have anyone with me." Gannondorf said. "Bowser won't want to join us, I can tell you that."

"I'm flying solo, too." Yuber, dressed in his sleek, black suit, added simply. His black hat hid his eyes from everyone else. "I don't have henchmen."

"I don't have anyone working for me personally." Mizuki said. She smiled. "But I'm sure Earthquake and Gen-An would be willing to work for us if the price was right."

"Well, it seems that I can clearly muster the most firepower." Magneto said. "Sabretooth, Mystique, Toad, Pyro, Juggernaut and Blob."

"I'm sure I can grab a few of Spidey's most hated foes to help." Electro said confidently. "But don't expect Venom or Sandman. They go solo."

Setsuna grunted. "The only person I can manage is Mukoro, but I'm sure he'll do fine."

King Lion was the final member of the villains to talk. "I can get Gozu, Mezu and Joker with no problem."

Bison nodded. "That should be fine. I'm pretty sure I can gather help from the likes of villains like Valgas and Sigma."

The villains looked at each other, and nodded. It was time to put the plan into action.

**(The Arena) **

"And now, before we start, I'd just like to mention one more detail." SSBFreak said.

Before he could continue, a deep and menacing laugh echoed through the stands, followed by a demented, deranged laugh. Everyone looked around to find the owners, but found nothing.

"No need to worry, folks!" Unknown1 said. "Look up."

Looking up, everyone saw two giant, white gloves floating down from the roof, the deranged one twitching wildly and surging with electricity.

"Straight from Super Smash Bros., it's Master Hand and Crazy Hand!" SSBFreak said. "At the end of every section, these two will actually alter the shape and effects of the arena, making the fights much more different!"

"Well, I think that's enough talking, SSBFreak." Unknown1 said into his microphone. "I think these people want to see the tournament start!"

A spotlight was aimed at the curtain where the fighters would come out. Everyone cheered as they waited.

The first fighter was about to step into the ring…


	4. Section One

**(The Arena)**

Everyone cheered as the spotlight continued to shine on the entrance curtain. They were waiting in anticipation for the first fighter to come out.

The fighter's theme song started playing. It was a rock song done with nothing but classical instruments, almost as if it were a royal tune.

"And now, to start the fight," SSBFreak's voice came through the speakers all over the dome. "The fighter that that drew number one…"

Someone behind the curtain pulled it aside as the fighter walked onto the ramp leading to the ring.

"**MARTH!" (SSB) **

Prince Marth looked around. Not only was he receiving a lot of cheers, but every single female in the audience was going crazy.

The blue haired prettyboy shrugged and took to the ring.

Once he was in the ring, Marth swung his sword a couple of times to stay fresh. As soon as he heard his music fade away, Marth turned to the entranceway and saw the fighter that drew number two was coming out.

"**ROBERT GARCIA!" (KOF) **

"_No matter what the clothes you wear or how you do your hair" _

"_No matter what you try to change, I'll always feel the same"_

"_No matter what the car you drive" _

"_No makeup face to disguise"_

"_I'll always see you from the inside" _

"_The inside out"_

As the voice of Nate Sallie came through the speakers, Robert stood outside the curtain entrance, dressed in his 2K3 getup. Tossing a coin to himself a few times, Robert waited for the chorus to his song to finish before running down the ramp. Making a leap of faith, Robert leapt into the arena and lashed a fireball at Marth. The blue haired prince quickly blocked and prepared to rush at Robert.

"**SAGAT!" (SFA3) **

Deciding not to go with a theme song, Sagat stood tall and charged down the ramp. Sagat felt pretty confident as he leapt into the ring and nailed Marth with a Tiger Shot. Ryu was supposed to come out in only a few sections, and Sagat felt that he could last until then.

Robert quickly jumped into the air and landed a kick to the giant man's back. Although he staggered forward a few steps, Sagat did an instant about face and performed a Tiger Uppercut, striking Robert before he even hit the ground. This caused a lot of people in the stands to go nuts.

"**HUGO!" (S3) **

Everyone listened as Petra began to play.

"_There's a higher place to go (Beyond belief, beyond belief)" _

"_Where we reach the next plateau (Beyond belief, beyond belief)" _

"_And from faith to faith we grow" _

"_Towards the center of the flow"_

"_Where he beckons us to go (Beyond belief, beyond belief)"_

Hugo, the young, Karayan boy from Suikoden 3, felt good as he charged his True Fire Rune. He was the main character in the game. Coming out this early only meant that he could eliminate that many more fighters.

The instant Hugo was in the ring, Marth perform his Dolphin Slash, firing the airborne boy into a Tiger Knee from Sagat that was intended to strike Robert. Hugo slammed into one of the hard, metal corners of the arena and groggily got to his feet.

Narrowing his eyes, Hugo drew his dagger and charged…Straight into Robert's fireball.

"**JULIA CHANG!" (T5) **

Being the first female fighter of the tournament, Julia was feeling confident. All four fighters in the ring were either resting or having duels with each other.

Julia sighed as she walked towards the ring. She had hoped to get a later draw. That way, she'd have hope of winning the tournament and getting money for her reforestation program.

Because that was pretty much a slim chance now, Julia decided to use the tournament as a way to meet new friends.

Once she got into the ring, Julia had to drop to the floor as Hugo sailed over her, a victim to Marth's charging power slice.

Seeing that he had almost hit her, Marth ran over and helped Julia to her feet. "I'm terribly sorry about that, miss." Marth said. "Had I known you were there I would have sent that boy in a different direction."

"It's quite alright." Julia smiled. "Say. Until some more people get into the ring, how about a spar?"

Marth lifted an eyebrow. "That wouldn't exactly be fair. I have a sword and you don't."

"Believe me. I'll be fine."

"If you say so."

**(Hotel; Bison's room) **

Bison watched as Vega and Birdie pulled Johnny Maximum into the room. As soon as the clueless football player was in, Bison dismissed his two henchmen, who left him alone with the World Hero.

J. Maximum got straight to the point. "What's this all about, Bison?"

Bison smirked. "I understand that you claim to be an amazing fighter."

J. Maxx stood straight. "I am. I can crush anyone in this tournament I want."

"Good, because I need a little job done."

The football player quickly turned around to leave. "Sorry. Not interested."

"Not even when someone you care about is at stake?"

This caught J. Maxx's attention. He spun around to face Bison. "What did you just say?" He demanded.

"Two of my men are keeping an eye on your son, my friend. At my word, they will abduct him." Bison replied simply.

"If you harm one hair on my son's head…"

"I'm the one holding all the cards, Maximum."

J. Maxx was silent for a few seconds before looking at the ground. "What do you need done?"

"I understand that you are in the same section as Fred Maximillion."

"So?"

"I want you to eliminate him. He poses a threat to me and my plan, so I want him out of the tournament as quick as you can get him."

J. Maxx started shaking violently. He would really hate himself for this, but his only son was at stake. What could he do? "Okay. I'll do it."

Bison smirked as J. Maxx turned and left. "Splendid."

**(The Arena) **

"**JUBEI YAGYU!" (SS) **

The one-eyed samurai slowly walked down to the arena, shaking the occasional hand. He was actually somewhat excited at entering this tournament so early. This meant that he could fight so many different styles.

The first person that Jubei encountered was Robert. "Ah, Robert Garcia!" Jubei said. "I have heard of your fighting style and wish to challenge you."

Robert thought and nodded. "Sure thing." He suddenly saw a beam of fire coming at them, pushed Jubei out of the way and dove to the side. The beam cut through nothing but air.

Jubei stood up and looked in the direction the beam had come from. Hugo stood there, sweating at the fact that his plan for a double-elimination didn't work.

"But first, let's take care of this minor annoyance." Jubei grunted and gripped his twin swords.

"Way ahead of ya, Jubei." Robert replied.

Hugo gulped and ran.

"**PAI CHAN!" (VF) **

As traditional Chinese music played through the speakers, Pai merrily ran down to the ring in hopes of finding someone to spar with. She quickly came upon the only one currently not in a fight, Sagat.

"Hi! I'm Pai! Wanna spar?" The girl asked gleefully.

Sagat looked down at the young girl and shrugged. "Why not. I could use some exercise before Ryu comes out."

**(Virtua Fighter Locker Room) **

"She's actually taking on SAGAT?" Wolf cried. "She's dead meat!"

"I give her a minute. No more." Sarah added.

"Now, now." Lau pointed out. "Don't underestimate my daughter. She may surprise us."

**(The Arena) **

"**JIN CHONREI!" (FF) **

To a positive crowd reaction, Chonrei, the elder Jin, made his way down to the ring. Now that he and his brother were no longer bent on evil ways, they had both decided to have fun with the tournament. In fact, Chonshu made a contest to see which of the two could do better in the ring.

Hugo saw Chonrei come in. "Finally! Someone I can take on!" He drew his dagger, charged his True Fire Rune and bolted straight at Chonrei.

**(Hotel; Lounge) **

Electro folded his arms and looked down at the boy in front of him. The blonde boy was, for some reason, dressed like a nun.

"YOU are the bounty hunter Bison told us about?" Electro asked.

Bridget nodded. "Don't be fooled by my appearance, mister. I'm perfectly competent."

Electro shrugged. "Okay." He pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled down a name and description. "This girl is somewhere in the dome. She is extremely dangerous." He handed Bridget the paper. "Find her, capture her and bring her to our room on the 57th floor. Once you do, we'll give you your pay and the next bounty."

Bridget nodded. "I will, mister Sparky. I'll be there within ten minutes."

With that, Bridget turned and left the room. Electro rubbed his chin. This boy seemed really confident that he could do this. It was almost a shame to lie to him.

**(The Arena) **

"**MUSAFAR!" (GF) **

As the first fighter from Galaxy Fight, Musafar, the giant robot, made his way down to the arena. There was a mixed reaction from the crowd, but Musafar paid next to no attention.

When Musafar entered the ring, everyone quickly saw that he was the biggest fighter in the ring yet and the first Big Guy of the tournament. Even Sagat, for once in his life, felt short.

Musafar took this time to nail Marth with a hard punch, firing the blue haired prince straight into Julia Chang, knocking them both to the ground.

"**HYO AMANO!" (LB) **

Amano popped his neck and stretched lazily before he started walking down to the ring. It was a pity that he got a draw this early. Hibiki wasn't supposed to come out for a while and that made chances of double-teaming and wasting everyone in the arena next to impossible.

Chonrei saw Amano come in, knocked Hugo away and walked over. "Are you Hyo Amano?"

The young man nodded with a smile. "I am."

Chonrei looked around. "I've heard that you were on the side of good. I'm detecting a very dark force coming from somewhere in the dome or hotel."

Amano shrugged. "It could be the villains. A good amount of them were invited to this."

"Maybe, but I don't want to take any chances." Chonrei said.

"Well, let's fight. We aren't supposed to be talking and if we talk and fight at the same time, no one will get suspicious."

"Agreed."

"**GADGET Z!" (S3) **

Not a lot of people were surprised when Johnny Q. Public blared through the speakers.

"_My eyes can't help my ears" _

"_My ears can't see"_

"_Why do I try this way?" _

"_There's probably something wrong with me" _

"_If I can't see that something's wrong"_

"_When all my pieces become pieces and not all one" _

His bolt-shaped hammer slung over his shoulder, Gadget Z rumbled down to the arena, rolling down on his three wheels. He saw Hugo getting his behind kicked and decided to lend a hand.

"_Where…Where would my body be? Body be!" _

"_Where…Where would my body be? Body be!"_

"Finally! Help!" Hugo said and he tried to block Marth's swings.

Gadget Z rumbled over to Marth and swung his hammer, striking the prince's foot. This gave Hugo the opportunity to knock Marth away.

"Thanks for the help, Gadget." Hugo said to the barrel-shaped robot. "Did Belle tell you do come help me."

"That she did." Gadget Z droned. "She is of a rubber boomerang. We will soon be eating of the glory that is the one of victory, while the ones that are not the winners will be eating of the agony that is of defeat. We will be reigning of victorious in the tournament!"

Hugo slapped his forehead. "What a time for Gadget Z to have a malfunction." He gently tapped the small robot on the head. "Gadget, snap out of it."

Gadget look up at Hugo, blinked a couple of times and let out a scream. "DARTH VADER! Stay away!"

Gadget Z swung his hammer at Hugo, who barely managed to dodge. Hugo ran from the crazed robot as Gadget Z decided to pick a fight with Robert, calling him 'Richard Nixon'.

"**MAX EAGLE!" (KE) **

Eagle shook a good amount of hands as he made his way down to the ring. He felt pretty good. Not a lot of his opponents looked like a real threat. The only real threats were Sagat and Robert. Musafar would also have fallen into this category, but he was now being double-teamed by Marth and Julia.

The young man got into the ring and saw Gadget Z look at him. The small robot knocked Robert away and raised his hammer.

"_**HAOHMARU! I SHALL SMITE YOU!"**_ Gadget Z roared, imitating Genjuro's voice perfectly.

Seeing Gadget Z charge at him, Eagle decided to add the small robot to his list of threats.

**(Hotel; Arcade) **

Dan Hibiki smiled and sweated at the same time as he continued to play Dance Dance Revolution. He was currently working through a tough song on the highest difficulty setting and was well on his way to getting a good grade.

For some odd reason, while Dan was never a very good fighter, he could absolutely trounce anyone he wanted at video games, especially DDR. In fact, the only one able to keep up with him so far was Duck King.

The song finally ended, giving Dan a ranking of AA. Dan smiled as he watched his name go into the top ten. Wiping his forehead with his sleeve, Dan took a drink of water and jumped off the dance pad.

Dan was about to leave the arcade and start getting ready to enter the tournament when something caught his eye. He saw two figures standing aside, both of them looking like animals despite both being human. One was green and had a tail and the other was gray and had a horn on his forehead.

Now, Dan wasn't as stupid as people thought him to be. He had read comic books and recognized these two as the Rhino and the Scorpion, two of Spider-Man's hated foes. Knowing that they were up to no good, Dan sneaked closer and hid behind a pinball machine to listen in on what the two villains were talking about.

"Are you saying that Electro wants us to kidnap him?" Rhino asked.

The Scorpion nodded. "Yes. He and the other villains said they need a few more men. Heck, we haven't had any good work in a long time. How could I refuse?"

"I guess you're right." Rhino scratched his head.

"Alright! That's it!" Dan shouted as he leapt from his hiding place. "I've heard enough! You both will fall before the might of…" Striking a heroic pose, Dan continued. "Dan Hibiki!"

Both supervillains looked at Dan strangely. "Let's take him out." Rhino said.

The Scorpion shook his head. "No. I can take him on myself. You go back and report to the boss."

Rhino nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Don't take long."

"It won't."

Rhino ran from the arcade, leaving Dan to face the Scorpion alone.

Dan motioned for the mutant man to come forward. "Bring it on, greeny!"

**(The Arena) **

"**JACK!" (WH) **

The clawed madman cackled as he ran down to the ring. He had been looking forward to this chance for ages. The perfect opportunity for some real violence.

Jack leapt into the arena and instantly went for Sagat, the biggest fighter he could damage. The madman knew he couldn't attack Musafar, with him being a robot and all, so the tall Thai fighter would have to do.

Sagat saw Jack coming a mile away and slammed him with two Tiger Shots, firing the madman over to Marth.

Jack looked up and saw the blue-haired man standing over him. "Killing for fun. I can't stand people like you." Marth said coldly.

The clawed man jump to his feet. "Bring it, girly-man!"

Marth didn't hear that sentence. He was focusing on what was going on behind Jack: Max Eagle running by, screaming, as Gadget Z rolled after him, calling him 'Haohmaru'.

Up in the announcer's booth, SSBFreak smirked. "It's time to bring out the first Mystery Fighter."

Unknown1 nodded. "You go ahead."

Back in the ring, SSBFreak's voice echoed through the speakers.

"And now, Mystery Fighter…Number…**ONE**!"

The curtain opened.

"**CONAN!" (River City Ransom) **

Dressed in his normal light blue outfit, Conan pushed his glasses higher on his nose as he ran down to the ring in the manner of every RCR character did: By just moving his legs.

The crowd cheered Conan, but no cheers were as loud as the ones coming from the rest of the Generic Dudes Gang, all of which were hoping that their hero would at least get an elimination.

Hugo saw Conan jump into the arena. "I've heard that you aren't a very good fighter."

Conan smirked. "Is this coming from the guy that's been attacked by everyone in the ring, even his own nodal companion?" He quizzed.

Hugo opened his mouth to come up with a comeback, but found himself drawing a blank.

"**CAMMY WHITE!" (SFA3) **

Cammy smiled at all the cheers she was getting. It sure was great being a main character.

Upon reaching the ring, she instantly got Gadget Z off Eagle's back by kicking the robot into Robert's back, sending the two of them flying into Jack and Jubei.

Eagle sighed in relief as he stood to his feet. "Much obliged, miss."

Cammy smirked. "Not a problem. That robot just needed to find a new opponent."

"Say, would you care to help me with some of these fighters in the ring here?"

"Such as?"

"The giant man with the scar and the large robot, mainly."

Cammy nodded. "It'll be a pleasure."

"**SAMUS ARAN!" (SSB) **

Samus loaded her arm cannon and made sure that her bomb supply was fully-stocked. Looking through her visor, Samus saw that Marth and Julia Chang were trying to take down Musafar without much luck. The bounty hunter charged down to the ring to help her fellow Smash Brother.

But was cut short by Pai Chan.

Pai stared at Samus curiously. "I've heard of you, Samus." She said. "I've always been curious of one thing…"

"Yes?" Samus asked.

"Are you a guy or a girl?"

"…Girl."

"Oh, really? Thank you for clearing that up for me." Pai slammed her palm into Samus' helmet, firing the bounty hunter into the middle of the ring. "Now we can fight!"

Everyone fighting in the area instantly ran, because they knew that Samus' arsenal was almost limitless. Even Musafar moved to get out of the way.

"_**ABANDON SHIP!"**_ Everyone heard Gadget Z cry out.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Ryoko shook her head as she watched the fight on the monitors. "I can't believe it. Jack is our only representative at the moment and he's an absolute maniac." She looked down. "Hopefully, we'll have a few normal fighters enter soon so we won't get laughed at."

Unknown to Ryoko, a young boy dressed as a nun was peeking around a corner, looking at her. Bridget quickly grabbed the note that Electro gave him and read it over.

"Long hair done into a ponytail, teenager, incredibly cute." Bridget smiled as he put the paper away. "Target Amy Guile has been found." Drawing his yo-yo, Bridget slowly walked around the corner and sneaked closer to Ryoko.

Ryoko suddenly heard a noise coming from behind. Turning around, Ryoko saw a yo-yo soaring straight at her head. She didn't even have time to scream, and was unconscious before she even hit the ground.

**(The Arena) **

"**ASH CRIMSON!" (KOF) **

Most of the people booed the latest addition to the KOF roster as he stepped out of the curtain. Ash shook his head.

"You steal one thing from Chizuru Kagura and you're marked for life." Ash sighed. He silently blamed the makers of KOF2K3 for making him look bad and took to the ring.

Upon entering, Ash ignited his hand with green flames and took a swing at Gadget Z, sending him flying a good several feet away.

Gadget Z slowly got back up. "D'OH!" He shouted in a voice that sounded eerily similar to Homer Simpson.

Ash didn't have time to ponder why the flames didn't set the wooden robot on fire. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Turning around, Ash was staring into the faces of Max Eagle and Cammy White.

"Even though that robot has gone crazy and chased me around the ring five times thinking I was Haohmaru, it is cowardly to hit him from behind." Eagle said, glaring daggers at SNK's newest prettyboy.

Ash sighed as rubbed his temples. This was going to be a very long day.

"**MARROW!" (MC) **

Marrow, Marvel's first representative, held a bone knife in her hand and smirked darkly. Just by looking at the bones producing from her back was enough to gross out anyone, even Brian Battler, who was munching on a corn dog when he looked at her.

The X-Woman charged into the ring and quickly slashed at the dueling pair of Jin Chonrei and Hyo Amano. Both fighters saw this coming and stepped aside, allowing the strike to miss them.

"What's the big idea?" Chonrei demanded.

Marrow smirked as her eye twinkled darkly. "We're supposed to be fighting. I want to make sure I do nothing but that."

Chonrei and Amano looked at each other, shook hands and charged at Marrow together.

This didn't faze Marrow in the least. "Finally. A good challenge." She hissed quietly.

**(Suikoden Locker Room) **

Landis stared at Marrow on the monitor, his eyes turned into little hearts.

"Yuh-Huh-Huh. The Grim Reaper thinks he likes this woman." Landis said.

Ace and Joker quickly decided to move away from the winged lunatic.

**(The Arena) **

"**HWOARANG!" (T5) **

"_Seems like I spent the past the years just struggling with these ideas" _

"_And the more I learn the less I really know"_

"_But to the things I do, I will hold tight"_

"_Because I didn't win them without a fight" _

"_It's all I have and I'm not letting go"_

The redhead youth came out to a loud cheer from the crowd as his theme song, 'Fade Away' by the Supertones, came through the speakers. Hwoarang knew that Jin wasn't supposed to come out for a few sections, so he'd have to do his best to stay in the ring until then. Hwoarang had his eyes set on Robert and was ready to go in and take him on.

But then he saw Julia talking with Marth. Hwoarang's eyes flared up.

"_I've never been less perfect than today"_

"_Is my heart or is my mind what's in the way" _

"_I'm listening with nothing left to say"_

"_Savior, make this dimness fade away" _

Truth be told, Hwoarang had a soft spot for Julia and the thought of her talking to another good-looking guy instantly made his vision go red.

Hwoarang let out a battle cry, charged into the arena and ran at Marth.

"And now, the final fighter of this section…" Unknown1's voice said.

"**GALFORD!" (SS) **

"Come on, Poppy!" Galford said enthusiastically. "Let's go in there, kick the bad guys' butts and win this thing!"

"Woof!"

To an insanely large cheer, Galford ran down to the ring and leapt in, Poppy following directly behind him.

Unfortunately for Galford, no one in the ring was a villain.

Galford scratched his head in confusion. "Well, now what?"

"Woof! Woof!"

"Great idea, Poppy! I'll just pick a fight with a great fighter until a villain comes out!"

Amano tilted his head. "You can understand him?"

"Perfect! You'll do!" Galford drew his sword.

"Wha?" Amano stammered.


	5. Section One Results

**(The Arena) **

Marth was too busy trying to help Julia take down Musafar that he didn't notice Hwoarang leap into the arena and make a beeline straight for him. The blue-haired man received a strike to the back and was knocked forward a few steps.

Prince Marth turned around and saw a severely ticked-off Hwoarang staring at him.

"What's your problem, man?" Marth asked.

Hwoarang didn't answer. He simply pulled his fist back and lunged forward.

"Hey, Marth! Look out!" Julia cried. She didn't see Howarang.

Looking back, Marth saw Musafar's huge fist flying at him. Acting quickly, Marth dove to the side and avoided the blow.

Howarang, however, did not.

Musafar's fist connected with Hwoarang's body with a loud 'pow', firing the young redhead into Jack.

Marth turned to Julia and politely bowed. "Thanks for the heads-up, Julia."

Julia nodded. "No problem. Now let's continue our little fight with this thing."

On another side of the arena, Samus was trying to go easy on Pai Chan. Pai was unaware that Samus held enough firepower in her suit to take out a small country and the futuristic bounty hunter was trying to make sure that the fight didn't turn unfair.

"Come on, Miss Aran!" Pai said cheerily. "I know you're holding back, so at least show me your full potential!"

"Believe me. You don't want to see." Samus said.

"Oh, come on!" Pai lunged forward and smacked Samus' arm cannon, hoping to do some damage. "What could possibly happen?"

Samus' eyes sprang open behind her visor as she felt an amazing amount of power coming from her cannon. She quickly realized that Pai had accidentally activated her cannon by striking it.

"Oh, crap!" Samus turned around, trying to make it so that whatever this attack was, it wouldn't damage anyone.

Pai's eyes widened when she saw a barrage of missiles fire from Samus' cannon. Now, if they were ordinary missiles, it wouldn't have been much of a problem. But these were unfortunately homing missiles, which quickly filled the arena. While most of the fighters avoided the missiles, there were some that weren't so lucky. Robert received a very painful blow to the leg, Cammy was thrown straight onto Gadget Z and poor Hugo was reduced to bouncing between the rubber ropes and the wall of rockets.

After the barrage ended, Samus turned to face a nervous Pai. "That's what could happen." She replied flatly. "In the future, try not to hit my arm cannon."

Pai quickly nodded.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"Boy, folks! It looks like everyone found out the hard way of how many weapons Samus has!" Unknown1 said into his mic.

SSBFreak was about to reply when he heard a ringing coming from his phone. Turning off his mic, SSBFreak picked up the phone.

"SSBFreak here." The young man said into the phone. "…Oh, hey Psymon… What?… Someone's reported a fight in the arcade?… Okay, you go there and see what's up… You're welcome, Psymon, but I have to say that that's the WORST Elvis impression I've ever heard." Before Psymon could continue, SSBFreak hung up.

Unknown1 switched off his mic. "What's up?"

"No biggie. A couple of fighters got into a fight at the arcade. I think it's a couple of punks fighting over the last quarter."

**(The Arena) **

Hugo groggily got to his feet. He absolutely couldn't believe it. He had done horrible in the ring. Every single time he had gotten to his feet, he got knocked back down one way or another. Even Gadget Z, his own nodal companion, delivered several painful blows, despite the fact that the small robot thought Hugo was Darth Vader.

Deciding to try one more time, Hugo drew his dagger and charged his True Fire Rune.

"Take THIS!" The young boy shouted as he raised his hand into the air.

Before anyone could react, a pillar of fire erupted from the canvas and engulfed several fighters unfortunate enough to be in the way.

Hugo grinned. Finally, things were looking up for him. Now, he could get to work and eliminate somebody.

Hugo took three steps before a slightly-burned Sagat landed at his feet. To Hugo, this was an easy elimination. Hugo slashed with his dagger, hoping to send Sagat out of the arena in an upward arc.

However, he struck nothing but air. Hugo was confused until he saw Sagat kneeling a couple feet away. Hugo quickly realized that Sagat had rolled out of the way. Sagat stood up and looked down at Hugo with a very angry face.

Sagat crouched low, and once he did, Hugo realized that he was in serious trouble.

"Tiger Uppercut!"

Hugo took the attack fully. As Sagat landed safely on the ground, Hugo was sent flying from the arena. When Hugo sailed far enough, he disappeared into a swirling vortex that magically appeared.

The portal opened in another node, depositing Hugo on a cold, concrete surface. The young boy stood up and looked around, seeing that he was in a futuristic city.

Hugo sighed. The first person to be eliminated in the tournament. He was so sure that he could do better than that. Maybe he should have-

***WHUMP!* **

Normally, if Antonio Guster ran over something in his F-Zero machine, he would have stopped to see what it was. But since it was the last lap, he was currently winning and Dr. Clash was directly behind him, he almost didn't notice.

**(The Arena) **

Sagat grinned as he looked around at the stands. A lot of the crowd was cheering for him insanely. Sagat couldn't remember the last time people had cheered for him that much.

"Don't worry, everyone!" SSBFreak's voice came through the speakers. "In ten minutes, he'll appear in our recovery room, where our crack team of all-star doctors, led by Suikoden 3's Dr. Tuta, will restore him to full health!"

Meanwhile, Max Eagle and Cammy White were double-teaming prettyboy Ash Crimson. The white-haired man was quickly regretting attacking Gadget Z from behind when he first entered the arena. Ever since Max Eagle said he didn't approve of the attack, Ash had never gone five seconds without being attacked in one way or another. Currently, Max Eagle was giving him a few hard punches to the stomach. Once Eagle delivered the third punch, Ash ignited his fist and slammed it into the other man's face, knocking him away.

Rubbing his chin, Eagle glared daggers at Ash again. "You'll pay for that, you coward." He said.

Ash smirked. "How?"

SNK's newest prettyboy quickly found out. Cammy delivered a hard kick from behind, knocking Ash to the ground.

As Ash got to his feet, Eagle punched him in the face, knocking him back towards Cammy, who sent Ash out of the ring with a Cannon Spike.

Ash landed in Unreal Championship. The predictable happened.

Like with what happened with Sagat, the screens quickly turned into a giant picture of Cammy on each side of the box.

**(Street Fighter Locker Room) **

"I don't believe it!" Guile said in astonishment as he looked at the monitor. "The first two elimination's of the night and they both came from our node!"

"This could prove to be a good sign, then." Chun-Li said.

"Mind you, is it really good when our only representatives at the moment are a giant man with no sense of humour and a girl that can't remember anything?" Ken joked.

Guile slapped himself on the forehead. "Hey, T. Hawk? Would you mind?"

"Not at all." The huge Native American said as he pulled his elbow into the air and spiked Ken into the ground.

Rainbow Mika, on the other hand, rubbed her chin. "Hey, guys? Dan's been taking a while." She said. "I think I'll go to the arcade and see what's keeping him."

Everyone nodded as R. Mika left the room to search for Dan.

**(The Arena) **

Jack cackled as he tossed Hwoarang's cut-up body to another part of the arena. He clashed his claws together and looked around.

"That's one down!" The World Hero laughed. "Now, who to take on next?"

The madman's eye suddenly caught sight of Jubei Yagyu, whom was currently dueling with Robert Garcia. Now that Hugo had been eliminated, the two of them could go back to fighting.

Jack smirked as made a mad dash for the one-eyed samurai in hopes of taking out the other organ of sight.

Unfortunately for Jack, Robert saw him coming. "Don't look now, Jubei, but here comes one of your fans."

Jubei turned, saw Jack coming and turned back to Robert. "Excuse me."

Turning back to Jack, Jubei raised his swords, blocking the madman's claws. Then, with one hand, Jubei grabbed Jack by the collar and threw him from the arena. He then turned back to Robert. "Now, where were we?"

Jack landed roughly in a dark cave. It took a while to adjust his eyes to the darkness, but once he did, he saw a big, toothy mouth staring at him as he got to his feet.

Jack smirked and clashed his claws together.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

SSBFreak flipped on his mic. "Well folks, it looks like Jack has come face to face with Baraka of Mortal Kombat!"

Unknown1 looked at Baraka on the screen and shuddered. "You call THAT a face?"

"This is interesting, ladies and gentlemen!" SSBFreak continued. "Within the course of a few minutes, three people have already been eliminated, but judging by the cuts and scratches on Hwoarang, Jack is the only one to actually do a significant amount of damage before getting eliminated!"

Unknown1 watched to fight in the Mortal Kombat node with wide eyes. "Man! Jack is making Baraka CRY!"

**(The Arena) **

The fight between Pai Chan and Samus Aran continued. Pai was trying her hardest to avoid hitting Samus' arm cannon, as she didn't want another disaster to happen. Currently, it was pretty much a stalemate, but neither woman was showing signs of slowing down.

Samus stopped fighting to take a breather. "You're a pretty good fighter."

Pai smirked. "Thank you! If you think I'M good, wait till you see Akira or Wolf in the ring!"

Suddenly, Samus saw something that made her eyes widen. "Look out!"

Pai quickly turned and held up her hand. Hwoarang's fist struck it, delivering no damage whatsoever. Pai quickly gripped Hwoarang's fist tightly, making the redhead wince in pain.

Now, normally, Hwoarang could have taken Pai on and won easily, but after the beating Jack had just given him, Hwoarang just didn't feel at the top of his game.

"That wasn't very nice, you know." Pai said calmly, yet darkly. Hwoarang didn't have time to answer. Pai delivered three hard strikes to his face.

Samus watched, impressed, as Pai continued to strike Hwoarang, forcing him back towards the ropes. With one final blow, harder than any others before it, Pai sent Hwoarang straight out of the arena. Pai took a well-deserved ovation.

Hwoarang landed in Banjo-Tooie, where he spent the next ten minutes staring at Mr. Patch, the inflatable dinosaur, with a confused expression.

**(Hotel; Arcade) **

The Scorpion flew into the wall for what seemed like the fifth time. Despite that fact that Dan didn't look like a good fighter, he was definitely noteworthy.

The green supervillain growled and peeled himself from the wall. Crouching low, the Scorpion lashed out his tail at the pink-clad man, intending to crush him.

Dan showed a rare case of awareness and saw the attack coming a mile away. Sidestepping the tail, Dan allowed it to strike the ground, becoming stuck. Dan quickly took the opportunity to jump onto the Scorpion's tail and grind along it until reaching the face of the mutant man, delivering a hard kick to his face. The Scorpion staggered back as his tail pulled itself from the ground.

"You'll pay for that!" The Scorpion growled and lunged at Dan.

Dan quickly rolled out of the way and kicked the Scorpion as he passed. Dan got to his feet and did a strange little dance while taunting. "Neener, neener, nee-ner!"

"Why you!" The Scorpion, fueled with anger, rushed at Dan once more.

Dan smirked. This was the opening he had been waiting for.

As the Scorpion rushed at him, Dan pulled his arm back, preparing for his most powerful move.

"Shinkuu…Gadouken!"

Dan's fireball, although it didn't travel very far, nailed the Scorpion with its full power. The Scorpion couldn't take the attack and collapsed, defeated.

Dan stood, victorious against a supervillain for once, and brushed off his gi.

"Dan?"

The pink-clad man turned to see R. Mika staring at him with wide eyes.

"Mika?" Dan asked. He quickly remembered the conversation the Scorpion had with the Rhino. Rushing at Mika, Dan grabbed her wrist and dragged her off.

"W-What's going on?" The female wrestler asked her friend.

"I dunno, Mika." Dan said. "But I can bet that it's something BIG."

**(The Arena) **

Marth and Julia couldn't believe how hard taking Musafar out could be. Ever since Musafar had stepped into the ring, the two of them had been double-teaming him. As much as they hated to admit it, Musafar was actually a decent fighter. And this was something considering that fact that he came from the Galaxy Fight node, where the only one who had managed to gather any kind of success was Roomi.

Musafar looked down at Marth and Julia and cracked his knuckles.

In another corner of the arena, Galford was merrily fighting Hyo Amano. Poppy followed Galford and constantly barked happily, as if cheering Galford on.

"Why are you fighting me?" Amano asked.

"Because that's what we're supposed to do." Galford replied. "I normally search out villains and try to take them out, but as you can see, I'm a little limited there. The giant man and the small boy in the blue robe used to be evil, but they've changed. I haven't heard enough about that huge robot, though, and don't have enough information on whether he's a villain or not."

Amano blinked. "Uh…"

"So when I don't see a villain in the ring, I always search out a challenge to hone my skills with. So I chose you."

Amano scratched his head this time. "Um…"

"Don't you think that's a good enough reason? Always searching a challenge, yet fighting some serious evil at the same time?"

Amano held his head. "Boy, you sure like to talk a lot."

"Woof!"

"That's right, Poppy!" Galford said. "We've been fighting him long enough!" With one slash, Galford sent Amano out of the ring.

"Oh, great." Jin Chonrei muttered as he dodged a slash from Marrow. "There goes my only ally."

Amano landed in I-Ninja, where he helped the huge-headed main character take down a horde of evil ninjas.

Back in the ring, Chonrei dodged another attack from the insane X-Woman known as Marrow. He realized that if she kept this up, he'd stand no chance.

"HI-YAA!"

A young man clad in a light blue gi flew over Chonrei's head and landed a kick to Marrow's face. Chonrei watched as Conan grabbed Marrow and threw her over to another corner of the arena. He had been hoping to eliminate her, but the throw wasn't quite powerful enough.

"Hey, thanks man." Chonrei said as he got to his feet.

"No problem." Conan smirked. "Anything for a fellow fan of the colour blue."

"I guess we have to fight now. We aren't supposed to have a conversation."

"Unfortunately, you're right."

Back with the fight against Musafar, Marth shook his head too regain his senses. Boy, that robot could sure hit hard.

Looking forward, Marth saw Musafar getting ready to deliver a hard punch to Julia. Because she was standing so close to the edge of the arena, the blow would eliminate her for sure.

Realizing that Julia was too good a fighter to get eliminated this early, Marth got up, ran at her and pushed her out of the way, just in time to receive the hard punch himself. Marth rocketed straight out of the arena.

No one in the bleachers could believe it. Someone from the Galaxy Fight node getting an elimination was shocking enough, but MUSAFAR? It took the audience a full five seconds before they erupted into cheers. Musafar paid next to no attention.

In the meantime, Marth landed in Mario and Luigi: Supersar Saga. It wasn't enough that he didn't have anything to do, but the fact that the person sitting beside him had a sheer tendency to constantly speak Engrish and always seemed to like the phrase "I HAVE FURY!" made things a little more hard to survive.

**(Galaxy Fight Locker Room) **

Everyone in the locker room was just as shocked as the audience sitting in the bleachers. They all stared at the monitor, wide eyed.

"Did Musafar just…Get an elimination?" Alvan asked.

"Yes…Yes, I believe he did." Rouwe said.

"Maybe this means that we'll get lucky!" Roomi jumped up and down excitedly.

"Maybe so, but I'll leave that for when I enter the ring." G. Done stated.

After everyone got over their shocked state, they started partying.

**(The Arena) **

Max Eagle and Cammy White continued their alliance and decided to take out their attacks on Marrow, whom had resorted to a cheap trick when she entered.

However, Eagle hadn't counted on Gadget Z interfering.

The small, barrel-shaped robot stared at Eagle with an odd glare before raising his hammer. **"THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!"** He cried and rushed over.

Eagle quickly recognized the voice and looked in the direction of Gadget Z.

"I'll get you, my pretty! And your little DOG, too!" Gadget Z cackled as he rolled at Eagle.

"Crap! Here he comes again!" And with that, Eagle took off running.

Unfortunately, Eagle had nowhere to run and with Cammy fighting Marrow, he had no help.

Gadget Z, the only robot that could malfunction the instant he was in the arena, charged closer to Eagle and pulled his hammer back.

***SLAM!* **

The next thing Eagle felt was a strong blow to the head, knocking him to the ground. Eagle got into a sitting position and rubbed his head, forgetting that Gadget Z was still behind him.

Gadget Z held his hammer like a golf club and lined it up with Eagle's behind.

"_**FORE!" **_

***WHACK!* **

Now rubbing his behind in pain, Eagle went flying out of the arena.

Gadget Z shook his fist at Eagle as the young man vanished into the vortex. "I am not a number! I am a free man!"

Eagle landed in Serious Sam. Or rather, inside a cave with a pond at the bottom. Eagle fell a long while before hitting the water, and when he did, the three aliens lined up held up unanimous votes of '0.0' and ran off giggling.

**(Suikoden Locker Room) **

"My! We actually got an elimination!" Chris said in astonishment.

"Yeah, but our main problem is that Gadget Z has gone absolutely berserk." Geddoe sighed. "If he was working properly, maybe Hugo would still be in the arena."

"I sincerely doubt it." Shiba said. "Sure, he's our leader, but the boy has absolutely no common sense! The instant he tried using that True Fire Rune, I knew right away that someone would eliminate him out of revenge."

"Although he is a friend of mine, I am inclined to agree with you on that, Shiba." Sgt. Joe sighed.

"Don't worry, everyone. I can win this tournament single-handedly." Lilly bragged. "I will help us get more elimination's than all of the other nodes combined!" Without turning around, she spoke to her two attendants, whom were supposed to be standing behind her. "Isn't that right, Samus and Reed?"

Silence.

"Samus and Reed?" Lilly asked again.

Lilly turned around, only to see that both Samus and Reed were gone from the locker room.

Borus smirked. "Can't say that I blame them for running off anyway." He whispered to Kathy, whom chuckled.

As Lilly looked around for her attendants, Ace turned to Joker and challenged him in the way we fans of Suikoden have expected him to over this time.

"Race ya to the bar."

"You're on."

With that, Ace and Joker ran from the locker room.

Landis, for once, was silent. The reason was because he was now watching the monitors while waving a tiny flag that read 'Go, Marrow!'.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

SSBfreak sighed and hung up the phone. He turned to Unknown1. "That was Psymon." He said. "When security entered the arcade, they saw the Scorpion limping away."

"The Scorpion?" Unknown1 said. "I didn't know that he was invited."

"He wasn't."

"…So what do we do?"

"Continue with the tournament for now. If something happens, the security force will call us." SSBFreak explained.

"Good idea." Unknown1 replied as he flipped on his mic. "Look at this, folks! Ever since Hugo was eliminated, Jubei and Robert have been dueling! Let's see which one wins!"

**(The Arena) **

Jubei slashed at Robert again, and once again, Robert ducked. Like Unknown1 had said, the two of them had been dueling ever since Hugo got tossed. They were proving to each other that the other was a worthy opponent.

Sweat flew from Robert's face as he kicked at Jubei. The one-eyed swordsman quickly parried the blow with one of his swords.

"You're real good, Mr. Yagyu." Robert complimented as he shoved another fireball in the swordsman's direction. "My master would love to fight someone like you sometime."

Jubei held his swords in front of the fireball, canceling it out. "I'll keep that in mind. I find that you are a very worthy opponent, and if your master is any better than you are, I promise that I will enjoy every minute of the battle."

"Thank you. Master Takuma is the best fighter I have ever seen, and he taught me everything he knew." Robert said proudly.

"I can imagine." Jubei replied. "I look forward to seeing him and facing him in battle."

Robert smirked. "If you can manage to stay in the arena, you won't have to wait that long."

"I shall try my hardest to stay in the arena, but that unfortunately means that I have to eliminate you to do so."

"Just try it."

That was all Jubei needed to hear. Without giving Robert a chance to react, Jubei grabbed him and threw him out of the arena and through the vortex.

Robert landed in Sonic Heroes. Or more specifically, the city zone. In fact, he landed on some crates on the other side of a chasm as a cannon.

"Well, I didn't manage to get an elimination, but maybe I can find something to do when I get back to the dome." Robert said to himself.

Suddenly, Robert saw three figures running towards the cannon on the other side of the chasm and hop in. Raising an eyebrow, Robert wondered what the deal was.

Until the cannon fired all three figures at once. One of them was coming straight for him, about to land on him.

Now, if it was the pink hedgehog or the tan rabbit, it wouldn't have been a problem, but for some reason, it just had to be the big…Purple…Cat.

***SPLAT!* **

Back in the arena, Pai Chan continued her fight with Samus Aran. She had managed to avoid contact with Samus' arm cannon so far, and was looking like she was winning the fight.

"If this is what the rest of the Virtua Fighters fight like, it looks like everyone will have to keep their guard up." Samus said. "You're the best fighter I've seen outside of the SSB node."

Pai beamed. "Thank you, Miss Aran!"

The two women continued the fight. Samus pulled her arm cannon back and thrust it forward, attempting to strike Pai in the face. The younger girl, however, ducked as the arm cannon struck the air above her head. Before Samus could recover, Pai smacked her in the face a couple of times, followed by a hard kick.

Samus, feeling the full power from the kick, spun in midair several times before landing on the arena surface, landing on her arm cannon. Looking up, she saw Pai standing over her.

"My! It looks like I've finally beaten you!" Pai said cheerfully. "No offense Miss Aran, but I have to eliminate you now."

Samus sighed. She knew that she had been beaten if she wasn't going to use her weapons. "No offense taken."

Samus moved her arm cannon out from underneath her so Pai could grab it and use it to throw her from the arena, but once Samus moved the arm cannon, she felt an amazing amount of energy coming from it.

Before either woman had time to react, a huge ball of white energy fired from Samus' arm cannon and struck Pai with enough force to knock her not only to the other side of the ring, but clear out of the arena with no hope of coming back.

Samus look at her arm cannon with wide eyes. She realized that when she landed on her arm cannon, she activated her Charge Shot. "Uh…Oops?"

Pai landed in Blinx: The Time Sweeper. Let's just say that once Pai figured out how to use the Time Control Crystals, the Tom Tom Gang never stood a chance.

**(Dome, Hallways) **

R. Mika stared at Dan, wide eyed. "The Scorpion and the Rhino were saying that they were ordered to kidnap somebody?"

Dan nodded and looked around to make sure that they were alone. "I don't know who the victim is, though. Those two never said anything specific."

After dragging Mika out of the hotel and into the dome, Dan had stopped running to tell her everything he had found out.

Dan couldn't believe it. He had actually found out of a plot by some evil villains and everything was now up to him to give the message to other fighters and gain allies.

"What do we do?" Mika asked nervously. She obviously had less experience fighting evil.

"We need to get more help." Dan explained. "And even more help after we enter the arena." He looked his friend in the eyes. "Mika, chances are neither of us are going to win the tournament. We need to use that time in the arena to gather more allies."

Mika nodded. "I understand, Dan. Let's get moving."

"Right." Dan replied as he and Mika ran off.

However, after the two of them had gone, Bridget walked around a corner, whistling a cheerful tune. Slung over his shoulder was a bound, gagged, unconscious Ryoko.

**(The Arena) **

Chonrei dodged another kick from Conan. The two of them had been at it since Conon had gotten Marrow off of Chonrei's back. The X-Woman had since gone to start a fight with Julia Chang.

The entire section of Generic Dudes in the bleaches were cheering Conan on, hoping that the blue-clad fighter would eliminate Chonrei.

Conan lashed out his fist, striking Chonrei in the chest. As Chonrei staggered back, Conan continued the onslaught, striking the younger fighter with more and more punches.

However, Chonrei managed to spot an opening. As Conan lashed out his foot, Chonrei held up his hands. Conan's foot slammed into Chonrei's palms, stopping the attack.

Seeing his attack getting nullified, Conan realized that this was going to hurt.

Chonrei let go of Conan's foot and slammed his fist into his stomach. Chonrei did this a few more times, forcing Conan towards the ropes. Chonrei finished his opponent off with an incredibly hard blow to the stomach, firing Conan out of the arena.

With Conan eliminated, Chonrei brushed his hands together and ran off to start a fight with Galford, whom was busy trying to ward off Sagat.

Conan landed in Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Almost instantly, a gang of psychotic chickens jumped him.

Meanwhile, Marrow was calmly and easily beating Julia. Julia was quickly thinking that Marrow was a more dangerous opponent than Musafar.

Marrow smirked. "You give up yet?"

Julia's face hardened as she slammed her fist into Marrow's face, knocking the X-Woman away. "No way!" She said. "I'm in this tournament to show everyone what I can do!"

Marrow's face darkened, although she didn't lose the smirk. "Well then, I guess you'll have to do it from outside of the arena." The insane X-Woman drew her bone sword.

Julia tried throwing another punch, but Marrow easily dodged it. Marrow quickly retaliated with a light slash, clipping Julia's shoulder. The young Native cried out in pain as she gripped her shoulder.

Marrow, on the other hand, smirked. "Looks like I win."

Marrow did a high kick, punting Julia out of the arena.

Julia landed in Sunset Riders, where she called Chief Scalpem a disgrace to Indians everywhere and beat him into the ground.

Back in the arena, Marrow turned around. Cammy and Jubei were advancing on her, each of them looking like they wanted to eliminate her. Chonrei had joined Sagat in taking down Galford, although the blonde man was easily holding his own against the two of them. Samus was now using her weaponry to its full potential and tried to take down Musafar on her own. Gadget Z was puttering around the arena, repeatedly singing "Go, go, Power Rangers!".

Marrow drew her bone dagger and was about to go in for the kill when she heard a pair of loud laughs, one booming and one deranged, coming from above the arena. All nine fighters in the arena stopped what they were doing and looked up.

Master Hand and Crazy Hand were about to alter the arena.

**RESULTS**

JUBEI YAGYU (SS)

SAGAT (SFA3)

GALFORD (SS)

MARROW (MC)

SAMUS ARAN (SSB)

CAMMY WHITE (SFA3)

GADGET Z (S3)

MUSAFAR (GF)

JIN CHONREI (FF)

**(ELIMINATED)**

PAI CHAN (VF)

JULIA CHANG (T5)

CONAN (RCR)

JACK (WH)

MAX EAGLE (KE)

HYO AMANO (LB)

ROBERT GARCIA (KOF)

MARTH (SSB)

HWOARANG (T5)

ASH CRIMSON (KOF)

HUGO (S3)

**BONUS MATCHES **

**Dan the Man **

DAN HIBIKI (SFA3) _**stomps**_ THE SCORPION (Spider-Man)

Eliminations: Jubei, 2; Sagat, Galford, Marrow, Samus, Cammy, Gadget Z, Musafar, Chonrei and Pai, 1

**I just can't believe it:** Musafar actually got an elimination. I was half expecting everyone from Galaxy Fight except Roomi to get eliminated almost instantly.

**Was the tie too much?:** Whenever two or more fighters end up getting a tie, I decide who gets the higher position by the time of his or her draw. The higher position always goes to whoever has the later draw. This sole reason is the only thing that kept Sagat out of the top slot and getting two eliminations. Jubei came out after him.


	6. Section Two

**(The Arena) **

Everyone watched as Master Hand and Crazy Hand started circling each other in midair, each of them doing their respective laughs. They knew that the two of them were going to alter the conditions of the arena and were staying still to see what would happen.

The Hands slapped together, then pointed their fingers down at the arena. Everyone suddenly started to feel cold (with the obvious exception of Gadget Z and Musafar, both of which were robots).

When the Hands were done, the arena looked almost the same as it did before except for the fact that the canvas had a bluish hue now.

Galford scratched his head. "How strange." He took one step to continue his battle with Chonrei and slipped on the canvas, which was now covered with a thick layer of ice.

"Well, folks! It looks like our first arena alteration is simple, yet very dangerous!" Unknown1 said into the mic. "The arena canvas is now coated with ice. If anyone moves too fast, they'll slip on the ice, providing an opening for attacks from their opponents!"

Suddenly, everyone heard some music coming from the speakers. All nine fighters looked at the curtain entryway, as the next fighter was about to step into the arena.

"**CLARK STEELE!" (KOF) **

As a techno remix of the original Ikari Warriors theme song played through the speakers, Clark cracked his knuckles, popped his neck, adjusted his shades and ran down to the ring.

Once he was in the ring, he quickly ran to help Cammy and Jubei with Marrow without slipping on the ice. After Marrow had knocked Cammy onto her back, Clark tackled the X-Woman from the side, picked her up and threw her away. He then helped Cammy to her feet.

"Why did you help me?" Cammy asked.

"I owed you." Clark replied. "You were the one to eliminate that Ash Crimson guy, and he's not exactly my favourite guy in our node."

"Oh. Well, no problem." Cammy scratched her head.

"So, who's our biggest threat in the ring?" Clark asked.

Jubei pointed at Musafar with one of his swords. "That thing. He eliminated Prince Marth with one punch." He explained. "He has GOT to go."

Clark smirked. "No problem. Let's get it!"

"**ERIK!" (WH) **

Erik the Viking lumbered out from behind the curtain and swung his axe a couple of times. His focus was on Jubei, as the one-eyed samurai was the one to eliminate Jack only minutes ago.

Once he got into the ring, Erik almost instantly slipped on the ice and landed on his back.

Sagat chuckled and walked over. "You don't know how to handle ice?" He asked.

"Hey! I never sail when there's ice out!" Erik insisted. "I've never walked on this stuff in my life!"

Erik grumbled as he staggered to his feet. This wouldn't be very good if he wasn't careful.

**(Dome; Hallways) **

Samus and Reed walked down the hallway, towards the doors leading into the hotel. They had been lucky to get away from Lilly while she wasn't looking and were currently looking for something to do before Reed entered the ring in the next section.

"What do you think of our chances in this tournament, Reed?" Samus asked his friend. "I mean, Hugo didn't last very long, and Gadget Z may have gotten an elimination, but he's gone absolutely nuts."

"In all honesty, Samus, I don't know." The blonde man replied. "My chances may be pretty slim, but I'd say that yours are a lot better because you got such a late draw."

"Thanks, buddy." The dark-skinned man said. "Don't think you'll do bad, though. You're a better fighter than Hugo for sure. Heck, you're probably better than about half the people from our node."

Reed shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe I am, but maybe I'm not."

By now, the two friends had arrived at the doors leading to the hotel. They were about to open them before they flew open. A tall, muscled, gray figure with a horn charged into the hallway and plowed into both Tinto soldiers. This knocked Samus and Reed to the ground and made the newcomer stagger back a few steps.

"Hey!" Samus said as he got to his feet. "What's the big idea?"

"I got no time for you, punks." The Rhino replied. "I've gotta report to my boss."

"Wait a minute…" Reed stared at the Rhino for a few seconds. "You weren't invited here!"

"Hey, you're right!" Samus added. "I know he's from the Marvel node, but I didn't see him arrive with the others!"

The Rhino growled. "First my buddy gets sidetracked with that guy in pink and now I have to deal with you two." He crouched low and prepared a charge. "This is going to take me forever to get back to the boss."

Samus and Reed looked at each other, nodded and drew their swords in perfect synchronization, preparing to take the Rhino on with full force.

**(The Arena) **

"**QUEEN!" (S3) **

The dark-haired beauty brushed hair from her eyes and gripped the handle of her sword as she stared into the arena. Queen's turquoise jacket was the most colourful thing she was wearing, as her pants were black and her shoes were a dark brown.

Queen spotted Gadget Z and ran down to the ring in an attempt to help him with Samus Aran.

However, she was unaware of Gadget Z's malfunction, and when she entered the arena, the small robot raised his hammer again.

"Don't a-worry, Princess a-Peach! I'll a-save you from a-Bowser!" Gadget Z changed his voice into a high-pitched, Italian voice as he rumbled at Queen, whom had stopped beside Samus.

Queen turned to the futuristic bounty hunter. "How long has he been like this?" She asked.

Samus sighed. "Since the instant he got into the arena."

Queen sighed and rubbed her temples. From the looks of things, she couldn't get Gadget Z's help until he snapped out of his malfunction, and it seemed like that wouldn't happen until Belle entered the arena.

The only problem was that Belle wasn't supposed to come out for a while.

"Take a-THIS!" Gadget Z swung his hammer at Queen.

**(SSB Locker Room) **

Mario stared slack-jawed at the monitor. "I a-don't a-sound like a-that!" He said.

"Yes you do." Bowser mumbled. "Now shut up and let me watch."

Link, meanwhile, looked around, as if looking for someone. Zelda saw this and walked over to him.

"What's wrong, Link?" Zelda asked.

"Have you noticed that Ganondorf hasn't shown his face in here since the tournament started?" Link asked. "I'm starting to get suspicious."

Ness and Mewtwo heard him and exchanged worried glances at each other.

**(The Arena) **

"**BRUCE IRVIN!" (T5) **

As 'Eye of the Tiger' played through the speakers, Bruce stepped out from behind the curtain to a surprisingly big cheer.

Bruce smirked as he shook a few hands and waved to the crowd. It felt so good to be back in the action. After all, he hadn't been in a canon Tekken game since Tekken 2. Now, he would prove to everyone that he deserved to stay.

However, before he got into the arena, he spotted his hero, Sagat, firing Erik into another part of the arena. Bruce's eyes lit up as he ran down to the ring.

Sagat saw Bruce coming, but saw that he looked semi-excited, meaning that he wasn't here with murder on his mind.

"Sagat! I am a big fan of yours!" Bruce said, almost unbelieving that he was actually talking to his hero. "Ever since I first saw you fighting, I took up the art of May Thai myself!"

Sagat stared. He had never had a fan like this before. "Uh…Thank you, I guess."

"It would be a great honor if you would let me fight you!" Bruce said.

The giant man thought. It had been such a long time since he had actually met a DECENT Thai fighter. Adon was okay, but was way too arrogant. Same with Joe Higashi, although that taunt really left a bad image in his mind. Shura was a complete disgrace, he thought, and RAX from Eternal Champions hadn't seen work in a long time, so he really couldn't be compared.

After a few seconds, Sagat looked down at Bruce and nodded. "Okay. Let's see what you've got."

**(Hotel; Lounge) **

Heavy D! walked into the lounge and looked around. Lucky had said to meet him here but, as usual, the basketball player was running late. In fact, there was absolutely no one in the room at all. He was completely alone.

The tall boxer shrugged and sat down to wait for his friend. Heavy D! was supposed to enter the ring in a couple sections and Lucky knew that, so Heavy D! wasn't worried that Lucky would show up after the boxer had already left.

Heavy D! was still feeling happy that he and Lucky had been invited to actually compete in the tournament. After all, the Sports Team hadn't seen work since they did KOF 98. He still felt guilty that Brian wasn't invited, but the football player had said from day one that he would gladly watch his friends participate.

Suddenly, D! heard some light footsteps coming from behind. Looking over his shoulder, D! did a double-take. He saw a child dressed as a nun trying to sneak by without the boxer noticing. At first glance, the child looked like a girl, but when D! looked a second time, he could tell that the child was a boy.

However, that wasn't D!'s main concern. He quickly saw a girl slung over the boy's shoulder, her arms, feet and legs bound with what looked like yo-yo string. A handkerchief was tied around her mouth, silencing her. He quickly recognized the girl as Ryoko, the adorable fighter from the World Heroes node. She was awake, and was struggling wildly against the boy's grip.

D! instantly got to his feet and looked at the boy. "Hey, kid! Where do you think you're going with her?" He demanded.

Bridget turned and saw D! staring at him. "I'm taking this girl to my client. He's offered me a huge some of money for me to capture this terrorist and I intend to get the job done."

Heavy D! instantly knew that this wasn't true, whether Bridget knew that or not. He quickly put up his fists. "I'm not letting you take her anywhere, buddy!"

Bridget sighed and placed Ryoko on a chair. He turned to D! and held up his yo-yo. "Very well. It seems like I have to fight you to get you to let me go through."

Ryoko stopped thrashing to watch D! start the fight against Bridget, and silently cheered the boxer on.

**(The Arena) **

"**JACKY BRYANT!" (VF) **

Jacky stepped out of the curtain and ran down to the ring as a lot of the crowd cheered for him. Jacky was feeling confident as he leapt into the arena. Pai had managed to get an elimination before getting eliminated, and she still wasn't exactly the best fighter in the node. Jacky figured that he could only do better.

"Watch out everyone!" Jacky shouted to the arena as he started to fall towards the canvas. "Jacky is in the _**HAAAAAAAA**_-"

Unfortunately, Jacky forgot about the ice. As soon as he landed, Jacky slipped on the canvas and started sliding towards the end of the arena. During his trek to the other side of the arena, Jacky knocked over Samus, Chonrei, Erik, Jubei and Clark. Jacky did end up stopping, but that was because he slammed into Musafar's leg.

Musafar looked down at Jacky, annoyed. Jacky quickly got up and scrambled off as fast as he could without slipping.

Meanwhile, all of the spotlights again lit up the curtain.

"And now…" SSBFreak was the speaker this time. "Mystery Fighter…Number…**TWO**!"

The curtain was pushed aside.

"**VIVIAN!" (Paper Mario 2) **

"_I'm free…I am free" _

"_I'm free!…I am free!" _

"_I feel a taste of reality" _

"_And I'm waiting for you to follow me"_

As Geoff Moore's version of 'I'm Free' came through the speakers, Vivian came out onto the ramp. Everyone saw that she was just a shadow-like creature with long and curly pink hair. She was wearing a red and white striped hat that went over her eyes and a pair of white gloves over the hands of her skinny arms. Everyone quickly saw that Vivian didn't have any legs. Instead, she was attached to the ground by a Genie-like spout.

Almost instantly, calls of "Aww! She's so cute!" were shouted from the audience. Vivian smiled as she leapt into the arena, which still looked a little strange considering the fact that she was still attached to the ground. The spout where her legs would normally be stretched, giving Vivian more height as she entered the arena.

Everyone quickly noticed that Vivian was also the only one not being affected by the iced canvas. The Shadow Siren rushed over to Samus and Queen, both of which were trying to fend off Gadget Z, who seemed to be calling them 'Catwoman' and 'Poison Ivy'.

Vivian slammed her fist into the barrel robot's side, knocking Gadget Z away. She quickly turned to Samus and Queen. "Are you guys alright?"

Samus breathed heavily as she got to her feet. "Yes. That robot's master REALLY needs to get that malfunction taken care of."

"**PICHU!" (SSB) **

Pichu, the small, even cuter version of Pikachu, scurried out of the curtain and scampered down to the ring. Pichu was by far the smallest fighter in the arena currently, and everyone wondered how that could hit something so small and fast.

Once he was in the ring, Pichu looked at Galford and started charging up an electrical attack. "Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…"

Galford looked over his shoulder. "What in the world is that?"

"…CHU!" Pichu rocketed forward, engulfed in electricity. The tiny Pokemon slammed into Galford, firing the blonde ninja away from Chonrei.

Chonrei sighed in relief. "Thanks, little guy."

"Pichu!"

"**OKINA!" (LB) **

Okina wasn't as short as Pichu, but he was about the same size as Gadget Z. The small, old man ran down to the arena, the huge basket bouncing around on his back.

The small man didn't have any problem with the icy surface of the canvas. He was tempted to go for Musafar, but the huge robot was currently being triple-teamed by the female fighters Samus Aran, Queen and Vivian. Suddenly, Jacky Bryant slid to his feet.

"Say, junior!" Okina greeted. "You want to spar for a second?"

Jacky slowly and carefully got to his feet. "Uh…Sure. But if I slip, could you please refrain from hitting me until I get back up?"

"Of course! I hate fighting unfair!"

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Hyo Amano shook his head. "The little guy is going for Jacky. I don't think he stands a chance."

Pai Chan, sitting beside him, nodded. "Jacky is one of the most powerful fighters in our node. Mr. Okina may have a problem."

**(Dome; Hallways) **

Dan and R. Mika ran though the hallways, attempting to find someone to help them fight these villains and prevent whatever they were planning from happening. Currently, they had found absolutely no one. Everyone was either in their locker rooms or in the hotel.

An idea suddenly came into Dan's head (boy, winning a battle and coming up with an idea? That doesn't sound like Dan to me). "Mika, let's try the Eliminated Seating." He suggested. "Maybe a few of the eliminated fighters would like to help."

Mika nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Let's try it."

"Not if we have anything to say about it!"

Dan and Mika screeched to a stop and looked ahead in shock. Standing there, blocking their path, was Balrog.

Balrog grinned, showing his lost teeth. "You two wanna get by? You have to get through us first!"

Dan raised an eyebrow. "Us?"

Balrog pointed up. Dan and Mika looked up and saw a new figure falling to the ground. The newcomer landed, showing off his green skin, brown, spiked hair and leather coat. The strange man crouched low and tilted his head with a strange grin on his face.

"Meet Toad." Balrog said. He slammed his fist into his palm. "We're gonna break you two so much that you won't have the energy to get help!"

Mika stared. "You're in on this too? Does that mean that Bison has something to do with it?" She asked.

Balrog suddenly realized his mistake and slapped his forehead with his glove. He quickly got into a stance. "Well…No matter. Toad and I are gonna win anyway."

Dan cracked his knuckles as Mika got into her stance. "No way, pally-rally! Mika and I are gonna get through you guys if it's the last thing we do!"

Toad chuckled. "It's SHOWTIME!"

**(The Arena) **

"**SAKURA KUSANAGO!" (SFA3) **

The overly-cheerful schoolgirl came out to an insanely large cheer. This cheer was bigger than even Galford's from the last section.

"Bah!" Cranky Kong mumbled from the crowd. "Back in my day, the girls didn't fight in school uniforms. It's absolutely disgraceful, if you ask me!"

Luckily, Sakura didn't need to go over and beat some sense into the old ape. Hanna from the Suikoden 2 node did it for her.

Sakura ran down to the ring and avoided slipping on the ice as she darted over to Marrow. The young schoolgirl quickly landed an uppercut on the older woman, firing her into the air.

One she landed, Marrow glared at Sakura. "What was that for, you shrimp?"

"I'm fighting!" Sakura said cheerfully. "What does it look like?"

Marrow tried to silence her with a Bonerang, but Sakura was too quick, nailing her with a fireball.

"**WATARI!" (S3) **

Before anyone in the crowd had time to cheer, the silent ninja was already out of the curtain and running headfirst towards the arena, his ninja sword ready to attack.

Watari, as it turned out, was one of the more popular Suikoden characters, as most of the crowd was cheering by the time he was in the ring. Watari started his performance off with a bang, throwing two ninja stars at Sagat, whom was still dueling with Bruce.

Queen saw Watari and waved at him. "Hey, Watari! Help us out with this thing, will you?" She was referring to Musafar, whom she, Samus and Vivian were still triple-teaming.

Watari nodded and swiftly moved over. How he was able to run so fast and not slip on the ice confused a lot of the crowd, but they quickly forgot about it when Watari leapt up higher than usual and slashed his sword across Musafar's neck, clipping some wiring.

"And now, the final fighter of this section…"

"**ATHENA ASAMIYA!" (KOF) **

The cheer for Athena was the loudest one so far. The young Psycho Soldier, dressed in her 2003 attire, shook as many hands as she could. In fact, she shook so many hands that her theme song ended before she got halfway to the ring.

When Athena finally got to the ring, she nailed Gadget Z with a Psycho Ball. The small robot quickly got up, shouted _**"ZABOOMAFOO!"**_ and lunged at her.

Or so he tried. By the time he reached Athena, the young girl had already teleported away.

Clark shook his head as Athena appeared beside him. "You still haven't changed, eh?" He asked.

"What?" Athena shrugged.


	7. Section Two Results

**(Announcer's Booth) **

SSBFreak rubbed his chin as he looked down at the arena, or more specifically, the quadruple-teaming Musafar was at the end of against Queen, Vivian, Samus Aran and Watari all at once. He turned his head to look at his friend. "How much of a chance do you think Musafar has?"

Unknown1, however, wasn't looking at the arena. Instead, he was looking at a monitor, where Jack, the only fighter from the last section that hadn't returned yet, was still beating the snot out of Baraka. When addressed, the young man looked at SSBFreak. "Huh? Did you say something?"

SSBFreak stared at the monitor, quickly forgetting his question. "Uh…Forget it." He quickly grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled down a note, reminding himself to invite Jack to the autograph signing after the tournament.

"The strangest thing is that Jack may actually get more popular for pounding Baraka." He said to himself.

**(The Arena) **

SSBFreak was right in saying that Musafar was at the receiving end of a quadruple-team. It was a sheer miracle that the giant robot was still standing, much less still in the arena. Queen's sword was incredibly sharp and cut through the circuits on his legs easily, and Samus' missiles made a lot of huge dents in his body. Watari was moving extremely fast and was throwing ninja stars at the huge robot. While these ninja stars didn't hurt Musafar and simply bounced off and out of the arena (the ninja stars crippled several characters in different nodes, but Woodman from the Megaman node didn't seem to notice much), they did manage to distract the huge robot long enough for Vivian to deliver several flaming punches to his torso.

Musafar quickly found an opening and slammed his foot into the icy canvas, causing a small earthquake (and cracking the ice at the same time). This affected everyone in the arena except Vivian (whom didn't have any legs), Watari, Jubei Yagyu and Sakura (all three of which were jumping at the time). Musafar quickly used this chance to punch Queen hard enough to send her to another part of the arena.

The huge robot cracked his knuckles. One down, three to go.

At another part of the arena, the earthquake had sent Sagat to the ground, as well as his current opponent, Bruce Irvin. Bruce quickly got up and helped to taller man to his feet.

"Ugh…Thanks." Sagat said.

"No problem." Bruce replied.

"Shall we continue our battle?"

"Of course." Bruce smirked.

Sagat fired another Tiger Shot at Bruce, but the dark-skinned man quickly evaded it, leapt into the air and delivered a hard kick to Sagat's chest.

The tall man staggered back, clutching his chest. He stared at Bruce, impressed. For someone lacking a projectile, Bruce was a very worthy opponent.

**(Hotel; Bison's Room) **

Bison turned from his spot in front of the window which overlooked the city as his temporary partner Geese Howard walked into the room.

"What is it, Geese?" Bison asked emotionlessly. "I am very busy pondering how I'm going to complete this plan."

"I…Have a request." Geese managed, although he said it calmly.

Bison sighed. "Yes?"

"I understand that Lily Kane is among the list of targets."

"What's your point?" Bison asked.

"I want to make sure that Billy has no idea that I'm among those behind this." Geese replied. "If he found out that I was in on a plot that his sister was a target in, there's no telling what he would do."

"Don't worry." Bison smirked. "Your bodyguard will not know that you have any part of this."

Geese nodded. "I'd appreciate it." With that, he turned to leave the room.

"Just one more thing." Bison said, not moving from his spot in front of the window.

Geese stopped. "Yes?"

"I need you to inform Valgas and Sabretooth about something." The Shadaloo leader explained.

**(The Arena) **

Athena launched another Psycho Ball at Okina. The little old man quickly ran to the side and stopped. Placing his fishing basket on the ground, Okina opened up the lid. At first, Athena though that there was some sort of weapon inside.

Imagine her surprise when a huge turtle emerged.

The Psycho Soldier held in a chuckle, but was quickly overcome with laughter.

"A turtle?" Athena laughed. "What's it going to do? Run me over?"

Strangely enough, that's exactly what happened. Okina threw the turtle at Athena, causing it to land on her. As quickly as it was pulled out, the turtle was called back into the basket.

Athena stood up and glared at Okina angrily. "Okay. That wasn't very nice!" Athena fired another Psycho Ball, and Okina quickly lashed out his fishing rod, canceling the projectile.

That was all Athena needed.

The young woman leapt into the air and did a Phoenix Arrow, firing Okina into the air when he was struck. While the old man was in the air, Athena leapt up after him and delivered a hard kick to Okina's side, firing the old fisherman into the portal.

Athena landed on her feet, smoothed out her dress and ran off to find another opponent.

Okina, in the meantime, landed in Frogger. Luckily, he held his basket underneath him, so he didn't sink when he hit the water.

Back in the arena, Jubei clashed swords with Marrow. Clark and Cammy had gone in different directions, leaving the one-eyed samurai to the deranged X-Woman.

Marrow pulled her bone dagger back and lashed out again. "Why won't you just DIE?" She asked, frustrated.

"I'm a far more formidable opponent to you than someone without a weapon!" Jubei replied as he blocked Marrow's strike. "The way you took out Julia Chang a little while ago was absolutely unforgivable! She was completely unarmed!"

Marrow slashed with her dagger, clipping Jubei's shoulder. As the samurai staggered back a couple of steps, Marrow leapt into the air. "Ahhhh, SHADDAP!"

Everyone in the crowd watched in disgust as the bones producing from Marrow's back extended to amazing lengths and multiplied several times to form several insanely sharp bones. Marrow then used her mutant powers to control the bones and make them soar straight at Jubei.

The one-eyed samurai, although shocked and disgusted, thought quickly and started running. The bone weapons chased after him, each one striking the ground directly behind his feet, crushing the ice on the canvas. Eventually, the attack stopped and all the bones crumbled. The bones that used to be at Marrow's back quickly sprouted again.

The X-Woman landed on the ground to see what was left of Jubei, but saw the one-eyed samurai standing in front of her with a dark glare. Marrow gaped.

"W-What? Y-You're still standing?"

"That's more than what I can say for you!" Jubei lunged at Marrow and slashed several times with each of his swords. Marrow, still shocked at how Jubei evaded her attack, took every blow and was forced over the ropes. Jubei stood straight and sighed to let all of the anger out.

Marrow landed in Killer Instinct. She sat down in a huff, angry about her somewhat bad performance in the tournament. The X-Woman made a note to herself to get that one-eyed samurai when she got back to the dome.

Marrow was so wrapped up in her thinking that she didn't see Fulgore standing behind her.

**(Hotel; Lounge) **

Bridget landed on the ground after delivering a hard, airborne kick to the tall, black boxer he was currently facing. As Heavy D! held his face, Bridget pulled out his yo-yo and threw it, attempting to bind the boxer up with the strings.

Heavy D! snapped out of his daze in time to see the yo-yo coming. The tall boxer dodged to the side and ran at Bridget. Before the yo-yo came back to the young boy, D! performed an R.S.D., nailing Bridget in the chin. The mercenary stepped back a couple of steps and glared at the boxer.

"You hit real hard." Bridget said through his teeth. "Are you some sort of assassin as well?"

"I'm no assassin, boy." D! grabbed Bridget and slammed him onto the floor. "I'm a boxer."

Bridget stood up, rubbing his face. "What kind of boxer uses energy attacks?"

D! smirked. "I'm the only one, kid." The tall boxer ran at Bridget and performed another R.S.D.

The young boy, however, was anticipating this and ran to the side, jumping on a couch. As D!'s attack struck nothing but air, Bridget kicked him in the side of his head.

Ryoko, still sitting on one of the lounge chairs, let out a muffled gasp as D! hit the floor. The tall boxer quickly got to his feet and lashed his fist into the air, launching several streaks of powerful energy at the young mercenary.

Bridget somehow saw this coming and dodged the blow, then delivered several hard punches to the boxer's stomach, followed by a kick to his face. This made D! collapse.

Bridget smirked. "Sorry about that, old man." He chuckled as he turned around to pick Ryoko up again. "But I need to deliver this terrorist to my client."

The boy stopped when he heard a grunt coming from behind. Turning, he saw Heavy D! staggering to his feet with a furious expression on his face. Bridget sighed and turned to fight him again. "You just don't know when to give up, do you?"

D! slouched over, breathing heavily. "I (pant) won't (pant) let you (pant) take (pant) Ryoko." He seethed.

Bridget's eyes snapped open as he dropped his stance. "'R-Ryoko'?"

If Bridget had time to block, there still wouldn't have been anything he could do. D! performed a Soul Flower, causing a small explosion. The sheer power from the blow sent Bridget into the air, towards the ceiling. As Bridget started falling towards the ground again, Heavy D! stood straight and waited for Bridget to line up with his fist.

"**D! MAGNUM!" **

***KA-POW!* **

One rocketing explosion later and Bridget was sent flying into the wall on the far side of the lounge. Bridget peeled himself off the wall and fell three feet before landing on his side, utterly defeated.

Heavy D! breathed in and out a couple of times before running over to the bound and gagged Ryoko, who seemed to be jumping in her seat, excited that the boxer had won. As quickly as he could, D! yanked the handkerchief from her mouth and started untying her.

By the time Bridget had awakened, Heavy D! had already freed Ryoko from the yo-yo strings.

Seeing Bridget awake, D! stood in front of Ryoko, whom cowered behind his leg. "Now tell me, kid." The boxer said. "What caused you to capture Ryoko here?"

Bridget held his head as he stood up. "Ryoko? Oh, gosh! I got the wrong girl!" Bridget sighed. "I'm sorry. I was told to capture the feared terrorist Amy Guile and thought she was her."

Heavy D! and Ryoko looked at each other with wide eyes, then back at Bridget. "Kid, who told you that?"

"Some guy in a funny, green, spandex suit with a lightning bolt on his head."

D! rubbed his chin. "That sounds an awful lot like that Electro freak that came with the rest of the Marvel crew." He looked down at Bridget. "Boy, I'm sorry to say that you've been duped."

The boy's eyes snapped open. "What?"

"Hey, D!" A new voice came from behind. "How's it hanging?"

All three figures turned to see Lucky Glauber walking into the lounge.

Heavy D! motioned for his friend to come over. "Lucky, get over here! I think we've got a plot on out hands!"

**(The Arena) **

Watari stood and looked up at Musafar, Samus and Vivian on either side of him. Musafar pulled his fist up and brought it down hard, attempting to smash the three others flat.

Thinking quickly, Watari used his hands to push Samus and Vivian out of the way, pushing them in opposite directions. As Musafar's fist came intensely close to smashing the young ninja's head, Watari did the move that all ninjas seem to know how to do.

He vanished into thin air.

When Musafar's fist actually hit the ground, he felt that he had crushed the young ninja. The force from the blow was so strong the almost all of the ice covering the arena canvas cracked. When Musafar lifted his fist, he found that he had actually crushed a log rather than Watari.

Said ninja suddenly appeared again and dropped onto Musafar's hand. As Watari slashed his ninja sword, Musafar's hand became disconnected. The huge robot didn't feel anything, but Watari wasn't done.

Samus and Vivian stared in amazement as Watari moved all around Musafar, slashing whatever he could see with his sword.

When he finished, Watari appeared on the ground, looking up at Musafar. The huge robot simply stood still rather than attack Watari. The white-haired ninja snapped his fingers once, and once he did, Musafar literally fell to pieces. It took a fair amount of effort, but Watari, Samus and Vivian managed to push the pieces of Musafar over the ropes.

The pieces of Musafar landed in Timesplitters 2. Other than the fact that they made Jake Fenton's job easier by landing directly on Mr. Big, nothing much happened.

**(Galaxy Fight Locker Room) **

"Well, so much for that." Rolf sighed.

"Well, at least he got an elimination." G. Done pointed out. "Who knows? Maybe another one of us will manage an elimination."

"Yeah, but somehow, I sincerely doubt it." Gunter sighed.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"I have to admit Musafar actually did pretty well." SSBFreak said into his mic.

"Yeah. He's been the dark horse so far. I heard that people were actually betting that Marth would eliminate him in the last section." Unknown1 added. "But I have to say that Watari's elimination of the large robot was amazing. Wouldn't you agree, folks?"

The whole crowd responded by erupting into cheers.

**(The Arena) **

"Tiger Knee!"

Sagat lunged into the air at landed a hard blow to Bruce's face. The king of Maui Thai continued with a low Tiger Shot, followed by a hard kick.

Bruce saw the kick coming and leapt into the air. Sagat's foot struck the air underneath the dark-skinned Thai fighter as Bruce landed a hard kick to the taller man's face.

Once Bruce landed on the ground, both men stared at each other for a couple seconds before lunging forward, each attempting a kick. Each of the two attacks struck the face of their opponent, making Sagat and Bruce stagger away from each other.

Sagat breathed heavily, genuinely impressed at Bruce's skill. "You have no projectiles, and yet you can hold your own in a fight." He breathed. "You are, without a doubt, one of the best Thai fighters I have ever seen."

Bruce smiled. "Thanks, Sagat. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"Your name is Bruce Irvin, is it?" Sagat asked. "I promise that I shall remember your name after our battle is over. Now, let us finish this."

"With pleasure, Sagat."

On the other side of the arena, Cammy White was having a hard time trying to defeat Jin Chonrei. Although neither of them were fresher than the other, Chonrei was younger (in a way), giving him a little more energy than Cammy.

Chonrei lashed out his fist, striking Cammy in the face. While she was stunned, Chonrei continued with a couple of hard punches, a high kick and finished with a low sweep, knocking Cammy's legs out from under her. Cammy landed on the canvas hard.

Chonrei stood over her, smirking. "Well, it looks like I've defeated you, Miss White." He said. "Sorry, but I have to eliminate you now."

"Not today!" Cammy shouted and thrust her foot up, slamming Chonrei in the chin. The force from this blow sent the elder Jin twin a good five feet away. Cammy jumped to her feet and ran at Chonrei, hoping to get a couple hits in before he got up.

"Cannon Spike!" Cammy shouted.

The resulting attack sent Chonrei over the ropes. The audience watched in anticipation to see Chonrei vanish into a portal, but everyone became surprised when the young-looking fighter grabbed hold of one of the ropes and slid back into the arena.

Cammy breathed heavily. "You're a stubborn little boy, aren't you?" She asked.

"Lady, I may look young, but I have far more experience than you." Chonrei said with a smirk. "Now, it's time to finish what I started and eliminate you."

Chonrei rushed at Cammy, but this was what the slim woman was expecting. Just as Chonrei came within arms reach, Cammy grabbed him, flipped backwards and vaulted him over the ropes again. This time, he went way too far to have any hope of coming back.

"If you had more experience than me, you should have seen that coming." Cammy chuckled.

Chonrei landed in Super Mario World, inside one of the castles. When Chonrei looked up, he saw a Thwomp hovering over him.

"What in the world is that?"

***CRUSH!* **

By now, most of the ice covering the canvas had cracked. This, ironically, made life easier for Erik, as he could now walk normally without having any worry of slipping. Currently, his opponent was Sakura. The young schoolgirl was quick, and was easily avoiding the swings from the Viking's axe.

"You World Heroes don't have a chance!" Sakura taunted. "Do you really think you'll get an elimination against the likes of people like Ryu and Kyo?"

"Well…" Erik said. "Not me, personally. But our node DOES contain formidable foes like Janne, Captain Kidd and Hanzou. Even Rasputin could dish out serious pain if he was agitated."

"Yeah? Well, I'll wait and see when they enter the arena." Sakura said, not very convinced. "Now, as for you…"

Sakura promptly lashed out her hands, creating a quick burst of energy. Erik raised his shield, blocking the blow. After counting the attack striking the shield three times, Erik swung his axe.

The young schoolgirl saw this coming and backed off, but received a painful slash to the stomach. Sakura collapsed in pain as Erik stood over her.

"Is that formidable enough for you?" Erik said with a smirk.

Sakura suddenly narrowed her eyes, leapt to her feet and performed her dashing uppercut, striking the unready Erik in the chin. This sent the Viking straight out of the arena and through the vortex.

Sakura looked at the vortex as it vanished again. "Stupid Viking!" She growled.

Erik landed in Crash Bandicoot: Warped. Dingodile spotted him and decided to see if the Viking was flammable.

**(Hotel; Hallways) **

"Gadouken!"

Balrog felt the full force of Dan's very small fireball and flew into the wall of the narrow hallway. The boxer got to his feet and pounded his fists. Balrog lunged forward in an attempt to take the pink-clad man's head off with a hard punch.

Which Dan sidestepped.

"Hold still, for crying out loud!" Balrog shouted. "You're not supposed to avoid that!"

Dan laughed as he leapt into the air. "Dan-Dan-Kick!" He announced, landing three hard kicks to Balrog's face before landing on the ground. "How'd ya like that, Balrog?" Dan taunted.

"A lucky shot!" Balrog said. "Let's see if you can stop this! Gigaton Blow!"

Unfortunately for Balrog, Dan saw the punch coming. As Balrog came flying at him, Dan crouched low and did his Uppercut super. While he hardly went off the ground at all, the attack was real powerful. Balrog's face was still stinging when he went flying into the wall.

R. Mika, on the other hand, was having a harder time against Toad. With the mutant man being unfamiliar to her, Mika had to be ready for anything. She had only been fighting him for a matter of minutes and already she found out that Toad was a skilled gymnast, could jump amazingly high and could dodge a lot of her attacks easily.

Mika wasn't one to give up, however, and lunged at Toad, striking the green-skinned man with her hip.

After recovering, Toad quickly lashed out his tongue, which extended to amazing lengths, wrapped around R. Mika's foot and lifted her into the air. With one swing, Toad released Mika and sent her crashing into the wall.

"Had enough?" Toad asked with a chuckle.

Mika slowly got to her feet. "Ugh…No. No way." The female wrestler lunged at Toad, preparing for her most powerful attack.

R. Mika wrapped her arms around Toad and repeatedly slammed him into the floor. After she was done, Mika got up and ran at the wall. Making a wall jump, Mika soared through the air and landed directly on top of Toad. R. Mika got up and saw that Toad wasn't moving.

The female wrestler sighed in relief. "Finally. I knocked him out."

"Oh, yeah?"

Mika looked down just in time to see a glob of green slime being spat at her. She realized all too late that Toad had been playing possum.

The blob of goo found it's way to Mika's face, covering her mouth and nose. Mika quickly tried peeling the slime off, but it had already dried. The wrestler's eyes sprang open when she realized that this slime was now preventing her from breathing.

Toad laughed as he watched Mika struggle to pry the slime from her face so she could breathe again. Alas, her efforts were all in vain.

Mika quickly looked at her friend and screamed his name, but with the slime covering her mouth, all that came out was a pathetic and muffled whimper.

Dan looked at Mika, and once he did, his eyes widened. "Mika!" He cried as he let go of Balrog and rushed over to help his partner.

Balrog quickly got to his feet. "Good job, Toad." He said. "Let's get out of here while we still can!"

Toad nodded as he followed Balrog down the hallway, leaving Dan to tend to Mika, whom was propped up against the wall.

Dan got down on his knees and tried prying the slime from Mika's face, but it wouldn't budge. Starting to panic, Dan tried harder.

Finally coming up with an idea, Dan stood up and pulled his arm back. The only problem with this was that Dan was known to have horrible accuracy.

"…G-Gadouken!"

Dan closed his eyes and winced, waiting for the sound of Mika's muffled screams of pain, but instead heard a loud 'splat' and Mika gasping. Opening his eyes, Dan looked down and saw Mika, bits of dried slime still on her face, gasping for air.

"Mika!" Dan got down on his knees again and got closer to he friend. "Are you alright?"

Slowing her gasping down to a heavy breathing, Mika nodded. "Dan…Y-You just saved…Saved my life."

"Mika, don't worry about it." Dan sighed in relief. "I'm just glad that I thought of doing that when I did."

Dan and R. Mika found themselves staring into each other's eyes, neither of them saying anything. Slowly, the two of them closed their eyes and leaned in towards one another.

Their lips were only inches away. Dan was getting ready to give Mika a kiss…

**(Dome; Hallways) **

While Dan and Mika were having their battle with Balrog and Toad on one side of the double doors connecting the hotel to the dome, another epic battle was taking place on the other side. The Tinto soldiers Samus and Reed were having a real rough time trying to take down the titan known as the Rhino.

Reed pulled his fist back and slammed it into the Rhino's chest, but it didn't exactly turn out how he had hoped. Because of the Rhino's rock-hard body, all Reed did was create a searing pain in his hand.

The blonde man turned to see how his friend was faring. He shook his hand several times. "He's invincible!" He said before the Rhino knocked him away.

Samus leapt into the air and slammed his foot into the mutant's face, making him recoil. "No he's not! His face is his weak spot!" He announced as he landed on the ground.

"You little punks!" The Rhino lowered his horn and charged at the duo.

The men of Tinto lashed out their respective swords, trying to see how that would fare.

While the attack didn't hurt the Rhino very much, it DID bring him out of the charge. The large, muscled man was sent to the ground, but quickly stood up.

"You two are in for it now!" The Rhino announced as he charged at Samus.

Fortunately, the dark-skinned swordsman saw this coming and ran to the side, allowing the Rhino to run into the wall instead. The Rhino's horn became wedged into the concrete wall.

The Rhino growled as he pulled himself from the wall. "I'm gonna crush you guys!"

"Come on, Reed! Let's take this guy out for good!" Samus said.

"You don't have to ask me twice!" Reed added.

The two friends watched as the Rhino charged them again. The two men leapt into the air as the Rhino passed underneath them and they each landed a hard kick to the mutant's back.

When Samus and Reed hit the ground, they turned to look at the Rhino. The large man was now standing with his back facing the double doors.

"Reed, hold him off!" Samus said.

Reed instantly knew what Samus had planned and nodded. "You got it!" As Samus stayed behind, Reed stepped forward to challenge the Rhino. "Bring it, ugly!"

The Rhino growled and charged again. Reed swiftly dodged to the side and slashed at Rhino with his sword as the mutant passed by.

The large, gray man quickly grabbed his shoulder. "That almost hurt!"

Reed knew that he'd only need to hold the Rhino off for a little while longer because he had known Samus' strategy. However, with the Rhino charging at him again, Reed knew that he had to make it quick.

The blonde man leapt into the air and planted his feet into the Rhino's back.

"Reed, GET DOWN!" Samus ordered.

As soon as Reed's feet touched the floor, he complied, throwing himself to the ground.

Samus lifted his hand into the air and activated his Wind Rune. The Rhino suddenly felt a cool breeze, which quickly escalated to a gust of severe wind.

Soon, the power of the wind was too much to handle, even for the Rhino. The large man was lifted from his feet and sent flying through the double doors.

On the other side of the door, Dan and Mika were inches away from having a kiss when the Rhino plowed through the doors. Dan took quick action and flattened himself against the wall beside Mika as the mutant man flew back-first down the hallway, in the direction Balrog and Toad had fled.

Looking in the direction of the doors, Dan stood up and helped Mika to her feet. The two fighters watched as Samus and Reed came through the now-opened doorway.

"What was that all about?" Dan asked. "That guy was the Rhino. I saw him talking with that ugly Scorpion fellow at the arcade."

"Reed and I were looking for something to do when he came our way." Samus explained. "Said something about returning to his boss."

R. Mika pondered for a second. She and Dan needed all the help they could get, and Samus and Reed had just proven themselves against the Rhino. "Dan and I have come across a plot and need help. Would you two like to join us?"

Samus and Reed looked at each other, then back at Dan and Mika. "A plot?" Was the response from both Tinto men.

Dan nodded. "A kidnapping plot." He explained. "I don't know who the targets are or who the big boss is, but we DO know that Bison is involved and he's insanely psychotic."

"Attention." SSBFreak's voice came through the speakers hanging on the wall. "Reed, we need you to get ready to enter the ring."

Reed heard this and looked at the others. "Here's the plan. Samus, you go with these two and find allies. I'll enter the ring and try to find help there."

Dan, Mika and Samus nodded and wished Reed good luck as the blonde man turned around and ran off to get ready to enter the arena.

**(The Arena) **

Sagat and Bruce had been dueling ever since the newer fighter had come into the arena. No one dared to interfere, as they didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.

"Tiger Uppercut!" Sagat announced as he lifted himself into the air in an attempt to remove Bruce from the arena.

Bruce, however, saw this attack coming and jumped to the side. Sagat struck nothing but air, leaving himself open for attack. Bruce took the chance and delivered a hard kick while Sagat was still in midair.

As soon as Sagat hit the canvas (and cracking the ice some more), he got up to look at Bruce and fired another Tiger Shot. Bruce quickly avoided the attack and kicked Sagat in the face. Sagat collapsed to the canvas, all of his energy used.

"Oh, gosh!" Bruce quickly bent over to see if Sagat was alright. "I'm so sorry about that!"

Sagat, much to Bruce's surprise, started chuckling. He looked up at Bruce, not moving from his laying position on the canvas. "You have beaten me fair and square, Bruce." He said. "Now I KNOW that you are the best Thai fighter I have ever faced."

Bruce sighed. "Thank you, Sagat."

"Now, I would like you to eliminate me."

Bruce's eyes widened. "What? But I thought that you were in this to fight Ryu."

Sagat smirked. "I may not have met Ryu in the ring. That will have to wait until later. However, I can leave the ring happy knowing that there's a Thai fighter in the world that actually shows a lot of promise and I was eliminated by him."

Sagat held out his arm. "Go ahead, Bruce." He said. "Grab my arm and throw me out."

Bruce sighed. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Sagat." He grasped Sagat's arm.

In all honesty, Bruce was half-expecting Sagat to trick him and throw Bruce from the arena as soon as he grabbed his arm, but the tall man did nothing. He didn't even resist when Bruce spun around a couple times and let go, throwing Sagat out of the ring.

Sagat landed in Viewtiful Joe. The tall Thai fighter quickly resumed training for his fight with Ryu by beating Hulk Davidson to a pulp.

Back in the arena, Galford was currently fighting Jacky Bryant. The young fighter was definitely holding his own, but the American ninja was proving to be superior. This was mainly because of one minor thing ninjas always do.

Jacky shoved his fist in the direction of Galford's face, but instead struck a log. This seemed like the tenth time this had happened.

"Come on, you coward!" Jacky shouted. "Stop running and fight me like a man!"

"You asked for it, mister." Came a voice from behind.

Jacky turned just in time to see Galford's foot lunging at his face. Jacky staggered back, holding onto his face. "What is it with you ninjas and your disappearing tricks?"

Galford lowered his stance and stared at Jacky with a strange glare. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why do you guys like to teleport all around the arena, leaving nothing but a log behind?" Jacky replied. "It may have been cool when it started, but it seems like every ninja I see can do that! It's almost like the ninjas are saying…" Jacky promptly changed the sound of his voice. "'Ohhh, look at me! I'm a ninja! I can disappear into thin air and leave nothing but a log and that makes me cool!' Come on! That trick is so old now! The very least you could do is try to come up with something unique!"

Galford, Poppy, everyone else in the arena, and the whole crowd was staring at Jacky with confused looks. Things were so quiet that you could hear crickets chirping despite the fact that this was an indoor tournament.

Galford quickly looked down at his dog. "Am I REALLY like that, Poppy?"

"Woof! Yappy yip woofy woof!"

The American ninja instantly brightened. "I thought not." With one slash with his sword, Galford sent Jacky out of the arena.

Jacky landed in a dark and creepy mansion. Although when he landed, he felt himself sitting on something.

"Zoinks!"

Jacky looked in the direction of the voice to see a tall, lanky teen wearing a green shirt, a short, brown-haired girl in an orange turtleneck wearing glasses and a large, brown, Great Dane.

"Jinkies! That guy just appeared from out of nowhere!" The girl said in amazement.

"Like, it looks like Fred was the first to find out." The tall boy scratched his head.

Jacky raised an eyebrow and looked down. He saw that he was sitting on an unconscious young man with blonde hair.

"Reah!" The dog agreed. "Rat's ro reerd!"

"Well, let's get going, guys." The girl said and turned to walk away. "We still need to save Daphne."

"Again." The tall boy sighed as he and the dog followed the girl.

**(The Crowd) **

Mel Masters sat beside his mother and watched in awe. He had been sitting, staring at the arena in shock, ever since Bruce had tossed Sagat from the arena.

"Did you see that, mom?" Mel asked.

"See what?" Eliza Masters asked.

"Sagat was tossed out of the arena easily!" Mel pointed out. "Dad always told me that it took all of his energy to help bring him down!"

"My, yes. That's what so odd about things like this." Eliza said. "You never know who might pull out on top." She was silent for a couple of seconds. "Speaking of your father, when is he supposed to come out?"

Mel pulled up his flyer for the tournament and scanned it over. "Not for a while." He replied. "Hey, mom? I'm going to go grab something from the snack bar."

Eliza nodded. "Hurry back, dear."

Mel thanked his mother, stood up, walked up the steps leading to the door and left the crowd.

**(The Arena) **

Clark Steele was currently being double-teamed by Queen and Pichu. Sure, Clark was used to fighting, but he was unfamiliar with both of these fighters. Queen's sword gave her added reach and Pichu was way too small to hit easily.

The Ikari Warrior looked forward and saw Pichu spinning at him, engulfed in electricity. Clark held up his arms to block the attack, but felt an amazing amount of electricity surging through his body.

Unfortunately for Clark, Queen added to the trouble by slashing at his back while he was blocking Pichu's attack.

After the tiny Pokemon finished attacking, Clark dropped his guard and spun in place, slamming Queen in the stomach with his fist. Pichu saw this and leapt into the air, slamming his head into the back of Clark's, making the Ikari Warrior drop Queen.

Once Queen was on the ground, she lashed out her sword again, slashing Clark across the chest. This was too much for Clark to handle and he collapsed.

Queen smirked triumphantly and looked at Pichu. "Well, now that we defeated him, how do we decide which one eliminates him?"

"Pichu?" The tiny Pokemon suggested.

"How about neither!" A new voice called.

Queen and Pichu looked in the direction of the voice and saw Bruce Irvin running over. The Thai fighter grabbed Pichu and threw the small Pokemon out of the arena.

Queen watched Pichu sail away, but then noticed that Clark was now standing straight and glaring at her.

Clark grabbed Queen and tossed her into the air. The Ikari Warrior stood still for a couple of seconds before Queen came down hard on top of Clark's shoulder. Then, with one arm, Clark threw Queen out of the arena, straight after Pichu.

"_**PIIIIIIIIICHUUUUUUU!" **_

"_**AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" **_

Clark held out his hand. "Thanks for the help, buddy."

Bruce shook Clark's hand and nodded. "Anytime."

Because of the closeness in eliminations, Queen and Pichu ended up in the same node. However, this node was Zelda: The Wind Waker. They landed in the middle of the ocean and decided to try swimming to the nearest island.

**(Hotel; Lounge) **

"So, you're telling me that Electro is with the bad guys?" Bridget asked, wide eyed.

The quartet of Heavy D!, Lucky, Ryoko and Bridget were still gathered in the Lounge, discussing on what to do. Currently, D! had just finished telling Bridget that Electro had tricked him.

Heavy D! nodded. "Yeah, AND he lied to you. Amy Guile is no terrorist. She's the sweet daughter of William Guile from the Street Fighter node."

Bridget sighed. "Well then, it's a good thing this was my first bounty."

Lucky spoke up next. "So that means that there ARE other targets."

Bridget nodded. "Electro said that after I finished with the current bounty, he'd give me the next one."

"Well, we know that Amy Guile is a target." Ryoko rubbed her chin. "But this doesn't make sense. I mean, other than the fact that she's Guile's daughter, there doesn't seem to be much to say."

D! rubbed his face. "I know. For now, we can do nothing but wait and see what else we can find out. Once we find out enough, we can get help and stop whatever's about to happen." He looked around at the others. "Who's in?"

Lucky instantly nodded. "I'm in, D!"

"Me too." Ryoko added.

"So am I." Bridget said. "I want to make sure Electro pays."

D! nodded. "Okay. I have to go into the ring in a couple of sections, so I can get help then."

"You'd better get ready, then." Lucky suggested. "Something tells me that we'll need all the help we can get and we need to stay in the ring as long as we can."

D! nodded. "I might just do that."

With that, the tall boxer stood up and ran from the Lounge to get ready to enter the ring.

However, neither Lucky nor Bridget noticed Ryoko smile sweetly as she watched D! run off.

"_My hero…"_ Ryoko thought.

**(The Arena) **

"Cannon Spike!"

For the third time in a row, Vivian leaned to the side, avoiding Cammy's blow. The adorable Shadow Siren, although she was from an RPG, was definitely holding her own against the Street Fighter, although the human woman had managed to land a good number of blows.

"What makes you think you can survive in the ring?" Cammy asked as she thrust her fist out at Vivian. "Conan didn't do too well."

"Yeah? Well, Conan's from RCR." Vivian said. "They're not exactly known to have the best fist-fights. If the arena was littered with weapons, that'd be a different story."

"Tell me about it." Cammy said as she tried sweeping Vivian off her feet (which was very stupid considering Vivian didn't have any legs). "Everyone would be running around the arena with a wastebasket on their head."

"Well, I'd say it's time for me to finish the fight." Vivian smiled sweetly.

"Yeah. By letting me throw you from the arena!" Cammy replied and charged.

However, Vivian saw this coming and slammed her fist into the oncoming Cammy's stomach. The flames that came from Vivian's fist hurt Cammy, but her clothes and hair were somehow unharmed.

Cammy sprung to her feet and ran at the Shadow Siren again, this time cautious of her flames.

Vivian, however, had another trick up her non-existent sleeve. The purple shadow girl lowered into the canvas, turning herself into a small shadow on the floor. Cammy flew right past her, and when she did, Vivian rose from the canvas.

Spinning in place, Vivian slammed her fist into Cammy's back, knocking her away a little bit. The Shadow Siren quickly snapped her fingers, causing a small explosion underneath Cammy's feet. This sent the young Street Fighter over the ropes and into the vortex.

Cammy landed in Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2. Rumbleman knocked her out of the ring almost instantly.

In the ring, Gadget Z, who hadn't been doing very much since the section started, shook his hammer at Samus Aran. "I shall throw you from the arena, Captain Syrup!" He droned. He raised his hand into the air. "The elimination will be so good that it'll be Quarktastic!"

Samus decided to put Gadget Z out of his misery and jumped over him. While she was over the small robot, Samus curled into a ball and dropped a bomb on his head. The bomb exploded, covering Gadget Z in black soot.

"A little too much gunpowder in the sugar." Gadget Z said stupidly as he lifted his wooden index finger into the air.

Samus landed behind Gadget Z and fired a missile into his back. As Gadget Z rolled forward a foot, Samus started charging her Charge Shot.

Gadget Z turned around and glared at the futuristic bounty hunter. "Now ya got mah hammer angry! Ya shouldn't ah done that!"

"Don't you ever shut up?" Samus asked aloud as she fired a fully charged blast from her arm cannon, sending Gadget Z clear out of the arena.

"_Rosebuuuuuuuuuud…"_ Gadget Z droned as he flew through the portal.

When Gadget Z landed, he looked around. He was in some sort of dry battle arena with ruins scattered around. He suddenly saw a strange man standing a good ways away. The man quickly lashed out his arm, sending a small tornado at Gadget Z. The small robot saw this coming and rolled out of the way.

"Strange man…Very quiet…Ruins scattered around…The power of wind…" Gadget Z thought aloud. He then raised his hammer. "Die, Luc!"

Goenitz could only stare at Gadget Z as the small robot jumped him. Meanwhile, standing aside, Chizuru Kagura smirked in amusement.

**(The Arena) **

After eliminating Gadget Z, Samus turned. Bruce Irvin and Clark Steele were currently having an alliance and were in the process of fighting Jubei Yagyu. Athena Asamiya quickly aided the one-eyed samurai by firing a Psycho Ball into Bruce's back. Sakura Kusanago and Vivian were currently sparring, and Galford and Watari were having a friendly conversation concerning ninja skills.

Suddenly, everyone heard two familiar laughs coming from above the arena. Everyone knew that by now, Master Hand and Crazy Hand were about to alter the arena again.

**RESULTS**

BRUCE IRVIN (T5)

GALFORD (SS)

JUBEI YAGYU (SS)

ATHENA ASAMIYA (KOF)

WATARI (S3)

SAKURA KUSANAGO (SFA3)

VIVIAN (PM2)

CLARK STEELE (KOF)

SAMUS ARAN (SSB)

**(ELIMINATED)**

CAMMY WHITE (SFA3)

GADGET Z (S3)

JIN CHONREI (FF)

SAGAT (SFA3)

PICHU (SSB)

JACKY BRYANT (VF)

QUEEN (S3)

MARROW (MC)

MUSAFAR (GF)

OKINA (LB)

ERIK (WH)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Tinto Tag-Team" **

SAMUS and REED (Suikoden 3) _**blow away**_ THE RHINO (Spider-Man)

"**Ryoko's Rescuer" **

HEAVY D! (KOF) _**knocks some sense into**_ BRIDGET (Guilty Gear)

"**Mismatched Enemies" **

DAN HIBIKI and RAINBOW MIKA (SFA3) _**wallop**_ BALROG (SFA3) and TOAD (X-Men)

Eliminations: Bruce, 2; Galford, Jubei, Athena, Watari, Sakura, Vivian, Clark, Samus and Cammy, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: Jubei Yagyu (3), Samus Aran (2), Galford (2), Cammy White (2), Bruce Irvin (2)

**Comeback King:** Out of all the Tekken 5 fighters I was expecting to see make up for Hwoarang and Julia's performances in the last section, I was NOT expecting Bruce to do it.


	8. Section Three

**(The Arena) **

The nine fighters in the arena watched and waited to see what the Hands would do to the arena. After the damage that had been done to the ice, they were glad that the alteration was coming when it was.

Master Hand clenched into a fist and soared underneath the arena.

Samus Aran quickly knew what was going to happen, and her eyes widened. "MOVE NOW!"

Everyone standing in the middle of the arena instantly ran, and it turned out to be just in time. Master Hand slammed straight through the middle of the arena, creating a huge hole, leading down into elimination.

"This, folks, is getting interesting!" Unknown1's voice came through the speakers. "Now that there's a hole on the arena, fighters can simply be pushed through it to be eliminated!"

Everyone suddenly heard some music. They knew that the next fighter was about to enter, so everyone, even the fighters, turned to the entryway to see who it was.

"**CAPTAIN KIDD!" (WH) **

"_We are the pirates who don't do anything"_

"_We just stay home and lie around"_

"_And if you ask us to do anything"_

"_We'll just tell you"_

"_We don't do anything"_

Reliant K blaring through the speakers, the latest World Hero came through the curtain. Surprisingly, the crowd cheered.

This wasn't really a surprise. Captain Kidd was known to be one of the most popular characters of the World Heroes bunch. The pirate cracked his knuckles, stretched a little bit and ran down to the arena, hoping to make up for Jack and Erik's poor performances.

When Kidd got into the arena, he saw Jubei and Athena taking on Bruce and Clark and decided to lend a hand.

Kidd leapt into the air and landed a Shark Kick to Clark's back. This knocked the Ikari Warrior forward a couple of steps. Bruce looked at Kidd, but got a hard punch for his troubles. Jubei and Athena quickly knocked their attacks away and looked at Captain Kidd.

Athena nodded. "Thanks, Kidd."

The pirate captain saluted. "No problem."

"**EARTHQUAKE!" (SS) **

Everyone watched as Earthquake lumbered out from behind the entrance door, although he had to squeeze through a little. Once he was out fully, Earthquake laughed heartily and strode down to the ring, spinning his weapon in his hand.

The main reason Earthquake was so cheerful was because Mizuki had offered he and Gen-An Shiranui a good amount of money each to work for her and her colleagues. Seeing the sum of money offered, Earthquake was quick to agree.

"Let's see…" Earthquake muttered with a smirk. "Mizuki said that I had to keep whoever may pose as a threat in the ring as long as I can. Shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Galford saw Earthquake enter, smirked and drew his sword. "At last! An evil person to vanquish!"

Earthquake was in the arena when he saw Galford rushing at him. He stared in silence for a couple of seconds.

"Awwwww, nuts." The giant said.

**(Dome; Vending Machines) **

Mel Masters whistled a cheerful tune as he placed another quarter into the machine. After he did, he pressed a button on it. A can of soda appeared at the bottom of the machine. Mel grabbed the can of pop, turned around and started his trek back to the stands to watch the tournament with his mother.

The young Masters boy had come to watch his dad, Ken, fight. Although Ken didn't end up with a very late draw, Mel was still confident his father could come out on top, especially with Sagat already eliminated.

Mel stopped walking and reached into his pocket, fishing out his autograph book. Mel stared at it and smirked. After the tournament finished, he could go to the signing and get autographs from fighters that he really liked in the tournament.

Suddenly hearing footsteps, Mel's ears perked up as he looked back. He saw a dark-skinned man with red hair lunging at him.

Mel didn't have time to react at all, and received a painful blow to the head. As the young boy quickly fell into unconsciousness, he dropped his small autograph book, which hit the ground with a dull 'thud'.

Standing over the unconscious boy, Gannondorf Dragmire smirked evilly.

**(The Arena) **

"**CODY!" (SFA3) **

Cody scratched his head as he stared down at the arena. It wasn't very often he was invited to a tournament like this, especially since he was an escaped convict. In fact, he was still wearing handcuffs and dressed in his prison outfit.

Suddenly, the veteran fighter saw Sakura still in the arena and decided to help out his nodal companion with her fight against Vivian.

Galford saw Cody jump into the arena and brightened. "Two evil villains in the arena at the same time? This is my lucky day!" He knocked Earthquake away and advanced.

Cody heard Galford and turned to look at him. "Look, pal. I may look like a criminal, but I'll have you know that I was wrongly accused."

"Oh. Well, that's different then!" Galford jumped back at Earthquake. "Carry on!"

Cody scratched his head. _"That guy is insane."_ The former hero of Metro City concluded as he continued to go help Sakura.

"**TAKUMA SAKAZAKI!" (KOF) **

The middle-aged fighting master stepped out from behind the curtain to a lot of cheers. Takuma looked around and smiled. This would definitely give his dojo more attention than it was currently getting, especially if he or his students could do well in the arena.

Unfortunately, Robert was already gone, so that just left Takuma and his two kids to defend the name of their fighting style.

Takuma suddenly saw Jubei look at him, smile and motion for him to come over with one of his swords. Although curious, Takuma went over to see what Jubei wanted, careful not to fall down the hole in the middle of the arena.

"What is it?" Takuma asked.

"Your student Robert said that you taught him everything he knows." Jubei explained. "I thought that he was one of the best unarmed fighters I have seen in my time here."

Takuma smiled and bowed. "Thank you."

"Now, I wish to challenge you." Jubei said. "Because I know that if the student is as skilled as Robert is, the master must be that much better."

Takuma nodded. "It will be my pleasure to accept your challenge."

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Junior Maximum ran down the hallway as fast as his little legs could carry him, Valgas and Sabretooth running after him. Junior sweated as he rounded a corner and continued running.

J. Maxx's only son couldn't believe this was actually happening to him. Junior had only left the stands to use the restroom, but after he came out, he saw these two freaks standing outside the door. They said that he was to come with them, but Junior was not stupid. He knew that they were there to kidnap him, and the small boy wasn't about to let that happen.

Junior looked back as he ran and saw that he was starting to lose the two villains. However, this meant that he wasn't looking ahead, and slammed into something solid. Junior collapsed on his behind. When Junior looked to see what he had run into, he saw a pair of huge, chunky legs. Looking up, he saw the bearded face of Chang Koehan looking down at him.

"Hey. You're Maximum's kid, aren't you?" Chang greeted. "What's the rush?"

Junior quickly jumped to his feet and ran behind Chang's leg. "Those two are out to get me!" He pointed down the hallway.

Chang looked down the hallway to see Valgas and Sabretooth coming to a halt no more than twenty feet away.

Sabretooth growled. "We're just here for the kid."

Chang narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth. He may have been a convicted criminal, but if there was one crime Chang could never stand, it was kidnapping, especially if it was children as the targets. "Forget it." The large man said. "He's not going anywhere."

"If you value your life, you'll let us take the kid." Valgas said.

Chang shook his head. "You creeps don't scare me! I've seen K9999 fight. Now THAT'S scary!"

Sabretooth shoed his extremely sharp claws and teeth. "Then it looks like we have no choice but to kill you."

Chang quickly looked down at Junior. "Find either your dad or someone he knows." He said. Junior nodded and ran off down the hallway.

Valgas looked at Sabretooth. "You go after the kid. I'll take care of this obstacle."

Sabretooth nodded and took off after Junior, despite Chang trying to prevent it.

Once Sabretooth as gone, Valgas smirked and strode over to Chang. "My, my, my. So you are Chang Koehan." He approached the large mountain of man. "What makes you think you stand a chance against someone like me, especially since I've got the power of the Power Stones with me?"

"I can still crush your pathetic little head." Chang said. "But how did you know who I was?"

"I've heard of you." Valgas started walking around Chang, his arms behind his back. "They say that you're the strongest man ever to enter all of the KOF tournaments. At first, I was looking forward to seeing you in person, but now that I see you, there's not really much to look at." He backed away from Chang and smirked. "People say that you're amazingly strong, but all I see standing in front on me right now is a fat, stupid, weakling."

Chang stood straight, determined. "I may be big and…" He suddenly looked a little hurt. "…N-Not as smart as Master Kim or Choi…" He shook his head and narrowed his eyes at Valgas. "But if there's one thing I'm not…" Chang lifted his iron wrecking ball above his head. "IT'S 'WEAK'!"

**(The Arena) **

"**PERCIVAL FRAULEIN!" (S3) **

Percival walked out from behind the curtain and almost instantly, every single teenage girl in the audience cheered loudly. This was just as big a cheer as it was for Marth in Section One.

Like Marth, Percival fought with a sword and could be counted as a 'prettyboy'. But unlike Marth, Percival was feeling confident that he could do well.

Percival entered the arena and saw Watari, someone from his node. "Hey, Watari." Percival said. "It's good to see that there's someone from our node still in the arena."

Watari shrugged. "I guess."

Percival scratched his head. "Uh, my I ask what you're doing just standing around instead of fighting?"

"I'm analyzing the competition." The silent ninja said simply.

Watari suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eye and, without moving, vanished into thin air, leaving a log.

Percival looked down at the log and ended up looking upwards. The knight's eyes snapped open when he saw Earthquake falling towards him, a victim of one of Galford's throws.

The brown-haired knight dove to the side just in time for Earthquake to crash onto the canvas.

Cody suddenly saw that all of the spotlights were now shining on the entranceway.

"And now," SSBFreak's voice came through the speakers. "Mystery Fighter…Number…**THREE**!"

"**SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!" (Sonic the Hedgehog) **

The following cheer for the popular blue hedgehog was by far the loudest one of the night. Rather than running, Sonic walked out from behind the curtain to have time to wave to the crowd.

Sonic was feeling extremely good. Not only was he one of the most popular characters in gaming, but he was also the fastest thing in the arena. He figured that he could get at least one elimination.

However, once the cheering started dying down, everyone heard the intro music for Sonic's song. Every hardcore Sonic fan in the audience quickly started laughing, and after a few seconds, a few others joined in.

Sonic raised an eyebrow. What could possibly be so funny?

"_The story begins, with who's gonna win" _

"_Know where the danger lies within"_

Sonic looked up at the Sound Booth, which was visible from the ramp. This was DEFINITELY not the song he requested, 'Escape from the City'.

"_Aboard the ARK, a genius at heart"_

"_Wanting to unlock the mysteries of life"_

The blue hedgehog realized that this song had a great beat and started bobbing his head to the music as he started walking down to the arena again.

"_I am the Eggman! That's what I am!"_

As soon as Sonic heard the word 'Eggman', he recognized the song. He froze in his eyes widened so much that his pupils shrank.

"_I am the Eggman! I got the master plan!"_

Sonic slowly looked around at the audience. Everyone was laughing now. A few were even clutching their sides as they laughed.

"_I am the Eggman! That's what I am!"_

Sonic, infuriated, looked up to the sound booth and raised his fists. **"WHO THE HECK CHANGED MY THEME SONG?"** The small creature screamed.

"_I am the Eggman! I got the master plan!"_

Knowing that there was nothing he could do now, Sonic ran down to the arena and started taking out his anger on Captain Kidd by performing a homing attack to the back of his head.

Up in the sound booth, a familiar black hedgehog smirked and walked away from the sound system.

"Heh. Take that, faker." Shadow the Hedgehog said as he Chaos Controlled out of the sound booth.

"**LING XIAOYU!" (T5) **

The high-spirited schoolgirl received a loud cheer (well, from those who had recovered from their laughing) as she appeared on the ramp leading down to the arena. Xiaoyu ran down to the arena, waving to the crowd the whole time.

When Xiaoyu leapt into the arena, she quickly saw Bruce in trouble. Not only were Captain Kidd and Athena ganging up on him, but a psychotic blue hedgehog was repeatedly bouncing off of whoever was in the arena.

Xiaoyu ran over and smashed her palms into Kidd's back, knocking him into Athena. This gave Bruce the opening needed to grab Sonic and throw him into Percival, which in turn stopped the knight from interrupting the duel Jubei was having with Takuma Sakazaki.

"Thanks, Xiao." Bruce said.

"You're welcome, Bruce." Xiaoyu smiled. "Let's get those guys back!"

Bruce smirked. "Sounds good to me."

"**ALVAN!" (GF) **

"And here comes Alvan, the second fighter from the Galaxy Fight node!" SSBFreak said through the mic. "Perhaps he's hoping to do as well as Musafar managed to do?"

"That could very well be, SSBFreak." Unknown1 added.

Indeed, Alvan was hoping to get at least one elimination, because he didn't want a robot like Musafar to do better than him.

As soon as he got into the arena, Alvan was grabbed by Vivian and thrown away, towards the huge hole in the middle of the canvas. Luckily for the Galaxy Fighter, Alvan managed to grab hold of the edge, preventing himself from being eliminated a matter of seconds after his entry.

Alvan climbed back onto the canvas and started having second thoughts of the Galaxy Fight node entering.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

SSBFreak flipped off his mic. "I thought so."

Unknown1 turned off his mic as well. "What?"

"Alvan almost getting eliminated instantly." SSBFreak explained. "He doesn't stand a chance."

Suddenly, the phone on the desk started ringing. Unknown1 picked it up.

"Yeah? Oh, hello captain." Unknown1 said into the phone. "…What?…There have been fights going on around the hotel and dome?…Well, then where the heck are your leaders?"

**(Dome; Snack Bar) **

Psymon grinned as he shook a canister of whipped cream and then coated his slices of pizza with the foamy goodness.

All five leaders of the security force were currently having a break, coincidentally, at the same time. Currently, they were sitting at the same table, a small, round one, as everyone else in the snack bar was gone, watching the tournament.

Joanna Dark cringed in disgust as she watched Psymon drizzle caramel on his pizza, over the whipped cream. The deranged psycho looked at her and grinned. "Want some pizza, Joanna?"

Samurai Goroh, sitting next to Psymon at the table, rubbed his temples. "Can't you ever eat anything normal, Psymon?"

Psymon looked at Goroh with an odd glare. The overweight samurai sighed. "You're right. I'm asking the wrong guy."

Knuckles piped up next. "Shouldn't at least one of us get back to our posts?" The echidna asked. "If the bosses find out about all of us taking a break at the same time, we'd get in real trouble."

The small, red echidna quickly got up, climbed up the wall and went into another room via a window.

Master Chief looked away from Psymon putting odd toppings on his pizza in time to see three figures walking past the door, an unconscious boy in the arms of the largest one.

The green-armoured man stood up. "Guys, look."

Joanna and Goroh stood up to look with Master Chief. Psymon was too busy sprinkling sugar on his pizza to notice.

"Isn't that boy Masters' kid?" Joanna asked.

"I think it is." Goroh grunted. "What's he doing being carried by the Blob?"

Goroh was right in identifying the large culprit. The huge, mountain of man was identified as the Blob, one of those that came in with the Rhino and the Scorpion. Following behind the Blob was Gannondorf Dragmire and Yuber, the dark knight in the black suit.

Joanna did the obvious. She raised her pistol and leveled the barrel at Yuber's head. "Freeze!"

All three villains looked through the huge doorway leading into the Snack Bar and saw the security force.

Gannondorf looked at the Blob. "You go on. Yuber and I will finish these pests."

The Blob nodded dumbly. "O-Kay." With that, the huge man walked off.

Gannondorf and Yuber walked into the snack bar to take the security force on. As Joanna walked forward and spun her pistol in her hand, Master Chief and Samurai Goroh followed, the latter pulling out his twin samurai swords.

Yuber smirked as two long blades of steel shot from inside his sleeves. "Chaos and destruction. It's almost too perfect."

Psymon, in the meantime, looked up from his pizza. "Hey. You guys have any sauerkraut?"

**(The Arena) **

"**REED!" (S3) **

"_How was my day? How was my day?"_

"_Well you never, ever ask me 'how was my day'" _

"_Well, anyway. Guess what? I got an A"_

"_But you never know that cause words we don't say"_

"Okay. All I need to do is go in there, get as many allies as I can and then try and get eliminated in a few sections." Reed said to himself as Peace of Mind's song 'Scream' came from the sound system. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"_I put on my headphones and just drift away"_

"_It's the only way I know just for me to escape" _

"_I clench my teeth and hold in my hate"_

"_And hold all rage and I hold all my pain"_

As Reed walked down the ramp, he was surprised when he heard a surprisingly loud cheer coming from the crowd. Reed stopped and looked around, amazed at how many people actually liked him.

"_And I hold in all the things that I just want to say"_

"_And it seems like every single day's just the same" _

"_And it seems like my life is never gonna change"_

"_And all I wanna do is break free from these chains now"_

The blonde swordsman decided to give his fans all he got and leapt into the arena to start fighting and gathering allies.

"_And I want to scream! And I want to shout!" _

"_I just want to run! I want to break out!"_

"_And I want to scream! And I want to shout!" _

"_I just want to run! I want to break out!" _

"_I want to break out!" _

When Reed hit the arena, he instantly decided to try and get the longest-running fighter as an ally. At the moment, that was Jubei, but the one-eyed samurai was still dueling with Takuma Sakazaki, so the blonde man decided not to bother them. Cody was next in line, and he currently didn't have an opponent.

"**RAIDEN!" (FF) **

The huge wrestler rotated his arm to stretch his muscles as he walked down to the ringside. Like Reed, Raiden was surprised to hear a loud cheer coming from the crowd. Raiden waved to the crowd as he stepped into the arena.

The first thing Raiden saw was Galford fighting Earthquake. Seeing the enormous thief as a challenge, the blue-clad wrestler stepped around the gaping hole in the middle of the arena and ran at the duel. From behind, Raiden grabbed Earthquake and slammed him into the canvas.

Galford looked at Raiden, confused. "Aren't you supposed to be a villain?"

Raiden shook his head. "I used to be, and let me say that I am NOT proud of doing what I did." He explained.

"Great! An ally, Poppy!" Galford said.

"Woof!"

"And now, the final fighter of this section…"

"**MARIO MARIO!" (SSB) **

The portly plumber's theme song was the traditional Mario Bros. Theme, but no one would have heard it over the massive cheering. Mario cheerfully walked down to the arena, doing his trademark wave.

Everyone in the stands was cheering. Loudly. In fact, SSBFreak and Unknown1 were making an announcement, but no one could hear either of them.

However, the massive cheering quickly slowed down as everyone suddenly realized something. Mario wondered what was going on, looked into the arena, and froze when he saw who was in the ring.

Mario looked at Sonic.

Sonic looked at Mario.

Both rivals ran at each other, dove and collided, quickly forming a comedic fight cloud.

"The game is on." Kidd muttered.


	9. Section Three Results

**(Eliminated Seating) **

"Come on, Mario!" Marth shouted. "You can beat that blue rodent!"

"You go, Bruce!" Julia added. "Keep going!"

Amano looked around. Despite the fact that his node wasn't doing especially well thus far, he was more focused on the strong, evil force that Chonrei had said he had felt earlier. Amano was currently thinking of something he could do to confirm that something was up.

Suddenly seeing Marth, Amano remembered that the SSB gang had two psychics with them. The perfect type of people to look for.

Amano smirked as he stood up and left the Eliminated Seating, passing by Jack, whom had appeared in the recovery room several minutes ago and had just arrived at the Eliminated Seating.

**(The Arena) **

Everyone in the ring was wisely leaving the battle between Mario and Sonic alone. Even Earthquake, one of the denser fighters in the arena, was smart enough not to bother the fighting rivals. The fight cloud containing the two fighters was constantly rolling around the huge hole in the floor, occasionally trampling an unfortunate fighter (which, two times out of three, was Alvan).

Reed, in the meantime, was the only one in the ring aware of this brewing plot. He was trying to get Cody's attention, but Clark Steele had decided to interfere and start a duel. Although Reed didn't like the idea of using a sword on an unarmed man, Clark was quickly proving to be a strong fighter for someone that only used his fists.

"How long have you been fighting in your life?" Reed asked.

Clark smirked. "Most of my life. I think that fists can be a more lethal weapon than swords."

"Yeah?" Reed asked as he slashed at Clark. "Well, where I come from, most of the creatures are so tough that a weapon is almost a necessity."

"Well, we'll just see about that." Clark cracked his knuckles.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"Boy, folks!" SSBFreak said into the mic. "The instant Mario stepped into the ring, neither he nor Sonic has had a second without getting attacked by the other!" He turned to look at his friend. "Who do you think will win, Unknown1?"

Unknown1 squinted down at the ring and shrugged. "It's too hard to tell through that fight cloud."

"Well, whenever a victor is declared, I'd say that he would have earned it! Both fighters aren't slowing down anytime soon!"

**(The Arena) **

Percival Fraulein dove out of the way to avoid the fight cloud containing the plumber and hedgehog duo. Landing on the canvas, Percival rolled forward a couple of feet, then stood up.

"Okay, that does it!" Percival drew his sword. "I have to stop those two. They're a hazard to everyone in the arena!"

Suddenly, a huge, blue-clad wrestler with a blonde beard stepped into Percival's way.

"Sorry, pal." Raiden said, crossing his arms. "If you know enough about those two, you know it's not wise to interrupt their fight."

"I don't care!" Percival said. "If things keep going the way they're going, those two will take everyone else out before they finish! Now, kindly move so I can put a stop to this nonsense."

Raiden refused to budge.

Percival pulled his sword back. "Very well. It looks like I have to eliminate you first to get to them." Percival slashed at Raiden with his sword, hoping to hurt the wrestler.

Imagine his surprise when the blade of steel bounced off Raiden's belly, doing no damage.

"What the heck?" Percival asked aloud. He tried attacking again, but this attack too bounced off the huge wrestler's round stomach.

Percival tried a couple more times. Raiden, looking bored, simply smacked his lips a couple of times.

"Why won't this stupid sword do anything?" Percival repeatedly slashed at Raiden, each attack doing no damage whatsoever. Raiden quickly found an opening and lunged his stomach forward, striking Percival in the head.

*BOING!*

Percival bounced off of Raiden's stomach and was sent flying a good ten feet away. The huge wrestler lumbered over to the brown-haired knight as the prettyboy staggered to his feet.

Raiden lightly pounded on his chest a couple of times, then leaned down. Opening his mouth, Raiden projected a belch so loud that the people sitting in the far back seats of the bleachers could still hear it clearly.

The worst part was the stench. Raiden's burp smelled so bad that, in the stands, Pepe Le Pew from the Loony Toons node shoved a clothespin onto his nose in disgust.

Percival, however, got the worst of it. A cloud of green gas projected from Raiden's mouth, containing the horrible smell, which quickly engulfed the poor knight.

As Percival was reduced to a severe coughing spell, Raiden leapt into the air and landed, stomach first, on top of the knight. Luckily for Percival, his shining armour was the only thing that prevented him from being crushed flat. Raiden stood up, grabbed the defeated Percival and threw him out of the arena.

Dusting his hands off, Raiden looked into the crowd and saw Zangief, one of the non-participating Street Fighters, laughing and giving him a thumbs-up. Raiden smiled.

Percival landed in the node of Ratchet and Clank, where the game's star character promptly turned the knight into a chicken.

**(Suikoden Locker Room) **

Borus, naturally, found the sight of his rival being turned into a chicken hilarious and laughed hard, earning him strange glares from everyone else in the Locker Room.

**(The Arena) **

Reed and Clark were still dueling, wanting to eventually pull out the victor. Clark wanted to win because he wanted to prove that fists were better than swords and Reed wanted to win because he still needed to gather allies.

"You're not bad." Clark said. "You're a lot better than that 'Queen' lady I tossed out a few minutes ago."

"She's actually a good fighter." Reed countered.

"Then how come she stooped to double-teaming with that Pokemon thing?" Clark lashed out his fist, catching Reed in the jaw.

"That wasn't her fault." Reed explained. "I didn't see it, but I assume that she and Pichu just so happened to attack you at the same time."

Meanwhile, Athena was watching the battle between Mario and Sonic occur, pondering about what she could do. The fight cloud was still going around the gaping hole in the center of the ring.

Suddenly a light went on in the young woman's head. Pulling her arms back, she concentrated, using all of her psychic power. Heck, if she timed it right, it would send both mascots out of the arena at the same time.

"Psycho Ball!"

Athena lashed out her arms, firing a ball of glowing, red, psychic energy at the fight cloud.

However, Sonic and Mario heard the shout. The two stopped fighting for a second to see the Psycho Ball coming at them. Mario took quick action, whipping out his yellow cape. Spinning in place, Mario spun the cape and struck the Psycho Ball with perfect timing, firing the projectile away. He and Sonic (whom was waiting patiently for Mario to deal with it) quickly resumed fighting.

Athena's eyes widened as the Psycho Ball flew past her and went towards Clark and Reed.

"Why are you so determined to beat me?" Clark asked.

"Nothing personal." Reed replied, feeling it was safe to reveal the secret because Clark was on the good side. "I need to stay in the arena as long as I can to gather allies."

"For what?" Clark asked, becoming a little more interested.

"Dan Hibiki found out that-"

*WHAM!*

The next thing Reed knew, he was watching Clark sail out of the arena. A strange projectile had slammed into the Ikari Warrior's side with enough power to eliminate him.

Athena stared at the scene in shock. Out of all people, the person the Psycho Ball eliminated just HAD to be someone from her node, didn't it?

Clark landed in Claymates. When he saw Ben, the gigantic dog, flapping his ears to hop around some sort of battle arena as a strange ball of blue clay repeatedly punched him, Clark decided that he had been hit way too hard.

Back in the arena, Mario and Sonic had broken away from each other for a few seconds. The two stared each other down, each of them breathing heavily.

"You've a-improved since a-the last a-time we a-fought." The Italian plumber said.

"Thanks. You ain't doing too shabby either, tubby." Sonic added.

Alvan saw that the two of them weren't fighting anymore and decided that this would be a good time to eliminate one of them. Cracking his knuckles, Alvan charged at the one with his back turned to the oncoming man, Sonic.

Mario, however, saw Alvan. "Sonic, look a-out!" Mario pushed Sonic to the ground and leapt over the blue hedgehog's prone body. Mario crouched low, and Alvan was coming in way too fast to try stopping.

Everyone in the arena stopped what he or she was doing to watch Mario slam Alvan with a Coinbox Jump. Mario leapt up in an uppercut, striking Alvan in the chin several times. Each time the Galaxy Fighter was struck, a coin was sent into the air.

When Mario finished the attack, he fell to the ground as Alvan continued going up. When Alvan started falling down, Mario stood underneath the falling man.

"Folks, I give you…" Unknown1's voice came through the speakers. "The Mario Tornado!"

Unknown1 was 100% right in predicting Mario's next move. The portly plumber spun in place, fists outstretched. Alvan, having landed close to Mario when the move started, felt every strike. When Mario finished, the plumber sent Alvan into the air, just overtop of the hole in the canvas. Mario leapt up after him.

In midair, Mario pulled his fist back and waited for Alvan to come within range. With perfect timing, Mario slammed his fist into Alvan's head, spiking the Galaxy Fighter straight down the hole and into the vortex.

Mario landed safely on the canvas, turned around and looked at Sonic.

"Hey, thanks man." Sonic said.

"No a-problem. I a-couldn't let my a-best rival be a-beaten by a a-wannabe." Mario laughed.

"Well, should we continue our spar?"

"Let's a-go!"

Alvan landed in Roller Coaster Tycoon, landing on a car on one of the roller coasters. However, not only was there a thunderstorm going on, but the ride was still running. A lightning bolt struck the roller coaster Alvan was on, resulting in a breathtaking explosion.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"Ouch!" SSBFreak winced as he watched the monitor. "Alvan'll be feeling THAT in the morning."

Suddenly, the phone inside the booth rang. Unknown1 flipped off his mic and answered it.

"Hello?…Yes?…What?…Well, put a stop to it!" Unknown1 hung up the phone.

"What is it?" SSBFreak asked.

"Master Chief, Joanna and Goroh are in the Snack Bar, fighting Gannondorf and Yuber." Unknown1 rubbed his temples. "All of the guards that are there are placing bets."

**(Dome; Snack Bar) **

Gannondorf slammed his fist into Samurai Goroh's head, sending the overweight man into a table.

The Gerudo King smirked evilly. "This is almost too easy." He said.

Suddenly, Ganndorf felt something latch onto him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that a glowing, blue orb was stuck to his behind.

***BOOM!* **

The resulting explosion knocked Gannondorf into the wall, but the evil man was otherwise unharmed. He spun and snarled at Master Chief.

The futuristic man smiled behind his helmet. "I just LOVE those Plasma Grenades."

"You'll pay for that, you fool." Gannondorf growled.

Master Chief responded by pulling an Assault Rifle from out of nowhere and started unloading bullets. Luckily for the evil man, the bullets all struck his chest-plate, preventing himself from getting harmed.

Joanna had decided to unload her pistol on Yuber, her current opponent. However, despite Yuber not having any armour to protect him, the bullets did absolutely nothing. Joanna was shocked at how eight bullets would do nothing. In fact, Yuber was smiling.

A dark, evil version of Kim Kaphwan's trademark glint sparkling from his eye, Yuber chuckled. "You think your pathetic weapon can harm someone like me, woman?"

Joanna stammered. "You're…You're not human!"

"What tipped you off?" Yuber grinned evilly as he lunged at Joanna and pulled both swords back in an attempt to cut the secret agent in two. Joanna closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.

***CLANG!* **

When Joanna opened her eyes, she saw Samurai Goroh, his own two swords blocking Yuber's, preventing them from harming her. Joanna quickly took the chance and slammed her fist into Yuber's face, knocking him away.

Gannondorf charged at Master Chief and pulled his fist back, winding up for a Warlock Punch. However, when he saw the purple flames coming from the evil king's hand, Master Chief knew what was going to happen. The green-clad man spun in place and slammed Gannondorf's face with the butt of his Assault Rifle, making the evil king stop the attack.

"Do you have a death wish?" Gannondorf growled.

"We saw your friend carrying Ken Masters' kid away." Master Chief replied. "There's no way something like this can be ignored."

Before Gannondorf had time to reply, Master Chief landed his fist against his chin. This was too much for the evil man to take, and he collapsed to the ground.

Joanna slammed her pistol against Yuber's head, annoying him. Samurai Goroh quickly slashed one of his swords across Yuber's chest, then performed a head-butt, finally knocking the black-clad killing machine to the ground.

Joanna looked at Goroh. "My bullets didn't affect him."

Goroh nodded. "I kinda figured that's what would happen. There's this guy in my node: Zoda. Bullets don't do much to hurt him either, and this freak sorta reminds me of him."

"Well, let's put these two in the brig." Master Chief walked over.

The other two agreed and turned, but saw that both Yuber and Gannondorf were gone, probably running off down a hallway.

"Rats!" Joanna stamped her foot. "They got away!"

**(The Arena) **

Jubei Yagyu again slashed at Takuma Sakazaki, whom dodged to the side. The two had been fighting ever since Takuma stepped into the ring. Both middle-aged fighters were extremely impressed with one another, and were enjoying the duel fully.

Takuma shoved his hands out, launching a fireball at Jubei. The one-eyed samurai blocked, but still felt a little bit of pain. Takuma's fireball was clearly more powerful than Robert's.

"You are one of the most worthy fighters I have witnessed in the tournament thus far." Jubei smirked. "Robert was not lying when he said that you were that much better than him."

"My students are the most loyal students a dojo owner could ask for." Takuma said proudly. "They never let me down in terms of fighting."

Jubei slashed at Takuma. "How so?"

"Robert and both of my children constantly enter the KOF tournaments." Takuma said. "While they never seem to win, they go far enough to get the dojo some new students."

Jubei raised his swords. "It's been a pleasure fighting you, Takuma Sakazaki." He said. "But I'm afraid we must finish this duel."

Takuma nodded with a smirk. "You got that right."

The middle-aged men clashed again. Takuma thrust out his fist, catching Jubei in the stomach. Jubei recoiled slightly, but quickly recovered.

Jubei slashed both swords in an X pattern, sending Takuma flying into the rubbers ropes. As Takuma bounced off and back towards Jubei, the one-eyed samurai swung both swords again, this time in an upward arc. The power of the swing and the position of the arc was just enough to send Takuma over the ropes.

Takuma landed in Resident Evil. He saw several zombies approaching the unmoving body of Jill Valentine and took action. After taking out the zombies, Takuma hoisted Jill over his shoulder and ran away.

Now that Clark was gone from the arena, Reed could ask for help from Cody. The blonde soldier approached the former hero of Metro City.

"Excuse me?"

Cody lashed out a Criminal Upper, knocking Watari away, then turned to Reed. "Yeah? What is it?" He asked.

"I heard that you're on the side of good."

"You might say that." Cody folded his arms. "Why?"

Reed suddenly saw Earthquake eavesdropping on them. Reed lashed out his sword, knocking the huge thief into Galford's awaiting arms. He turned back to Cody. "Dan Hibiki has come across a plot and needs allies."

Cody's eyes widened. "Dan actually found out a plot?" He shook his head. "What is it about?"

"It's a kidnapping plot." Reed explained. "Sadly, we don't know who's leading these villains or how many targets there are, but we need serious help and fast."

Cody nodded. "I'm in."

Reed smiled. "Great!" He turned to walk away. "Okay, now I need to find someone else to get help from."

Cody placed a hand on Reed's shoulder. "Just a minute, pal."

Reed looked over his shoulder. "Yes?"

"You have to eliminate me. I need to get out there as fast as I can." Cody explained.

"But…What about the tournament?" Reed asked, wide-eyed.

Cody shrugged. "Ah, there's always next year."

Reed sighed. "Okay. I'll push you down the hole."

"Make it look real."

Cody lashed his arm into the air, performing another Criminal Upper, purposefully missing Reed. The blonde swordsman quickly pushed Cody off the edge of the arena and down the hole.

Cody landed in Joe and Mac. The blonde man stood up, looked around and heard an Earth-shaking roar. Looking back, Cody saw Joe fly past him, screaming in terror, as a Tyrannosaurus was hot on his tail.

Seeing the dinosaur coming, Cody smirked and cracked his knuckles.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

Unknown1 looked at the monitor. "Boy. Cody's wasting that thing."

SSBFreak shrugged. "Yeah, but that's the boss for level 1. Just wait until he comes across the Wooly Mammoth. THEN things'll get interesting.

**(Hotel; Geese's Room) **

Geese Howard sat in a chair, alone in his room. The criminal boss had his eyes closed in deep thought. Ripper and Hopper, knowing never to disturb Geese when he was thinking, had decided to guard the door outside.

Geese was really starting to regret agreeing to help Bison with this plan. Now that Lily Kane had been proclaimed a target, Geese knew that if Billy ever found out his own boss was in on the plan, he would not only quit the organization, but probably teach Geese a severe lessen himself.

"No." Geese opened his eyes and stood up. "I can't do this." Looking out the window, he sighed. "I can't do this to him."

"To who?"

Geese spun around in place, ready to take the attacker on, but instead saw Billy Kane, leaning against his staff.

"B-Billy. Uh…How long were you there?" Geese asked.

"I just entered the room through the side door." Billy explained. "Look, boss. I know that Ripper and Hopper are supposed to guard you heavily, but shouldn't at least ONE of them be at the other door?"

"I'll…Keep that in mind."

"Say, boss? Who WERE you talking about just now?"

"Uh…No one, Billy." Geese replied. "Look, you're not going to enter the ring for a while, so why don't you take a walk?"

Billy raised an eyebrow. "What for? You don't need anything done?"

"No. Not right now."

Billy shrugged. "Okay. Thanks, Geese." With that, Billy turned and left the room.

Once Billy was gone, Geese collapsed into another chair. "I have to get out of this plot before it's too late."

**(The Arena) **

Now that Jubei had eliminated Takuma, Reed could now try and get his help as well. "Mr. Yagyu!" The blonde man called out and ran over.

The one-eyed samurai turned. "Yes?"

Reed breathed heavily. "I need your help."

"I'm listening."

"Look, Dan Hibiki and R. Mika found out a plot and-"

For the second time in a matter of minutes, Reed got interrupted. This time, Sakura Kusanago was the one to step in. Doing her running uppercut, Sakura knocked Reed away. Turning, she saw Jubei staring at her with a stern expression.

"That man was about to tell me something very important, young lady." Jubei said.

"We're supposed to be fighting, mister." Sakura replied. "Not talking."

"So, you want to fight?" Jubei held up is swords. "Looks like I'll have to take you down before I can finish my conversation with that man."

Jubei rushed at Sakura, but the young schoolgirl was ready. When Jubei got close enough, Sakura lashed out her hands, creating an energy blast. This knocked Jubei away a little, allowing Sakura to continue the onslaught. Leaping into the air, Sakura spun around and landed her foot against Jubei's chin a couple of times.

As Jubei held his face, he failed to realize that he was dangerously close to the hole.

Sakura ran forward and performed another running uppercut, sending Jubei into the air. Tired from his fight with Takuma Sakazaki, Jubei fell limply down the hole and through the portal.

Jubei landed in Mario Golf. Jubei scratched his head as he stood to his feet and looked around.

"Well, that man said that Dan Hibiki and R. Mika found out this plot." Jubei said to himself. "When I get back to the dome, I should probably look for them."

Suddenly, Jubei saw something out of the corner of his good eye. Looking down, he saw a cheery mushroom person holding up a golf club for him to take.

Jubei stood in silence before shrugging and accepting the golf club. "I guess I have time for a few holes."

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"And so ends the run of Jubei Yagyu." SSBFreak said. "A pretty impressive showing for the veteran fighter."

"For sure." Unknown1 agreed. "Four eliminations is certainly nothing to laugh at."

**(Dome; Hallways) **

Chang's iron wrecking ball slammed into Valgas' face, sending the giant man into the wall. Valgas slowly got to his feet, holding his chin, but smiling at the same time.

"You're better than I anticipated." Valgas chuckled. "That almost hurt."

Valgas lunged at Chang and thrust his fist out. Chang raised his arms to block the blow, but it did next to no good. Even though he was blocking, Chang was still sent flying down the hallway a good ten feet before landing on his behind and sliding an additional three feet.

Chang leapt to his feet and rumbled at Valgas, preparing the ultimate move that he just could never seem to get right. When Chang ran close enough, he raised his foot.

"Heinzan! ACK!"

Chang missed his mark by a mile and the power of his attempt launched him into the air. Chang did a flip before landing directly on top of Valgas, belly-first. Although it hurt the evil man a little, Valgas leapt into the air with Chang still on his shoulders and slammed him into the ceiling.

Valgas landed on his feet and tossed Chang to the ground. The huge mountain of man slowly stood up as bits of access concrete tapped against his bald noggin.

"You think you can beat me without something like the Power Stones?" Valgas asked. "That alone was why I got defeated in the first place."

Chang seethed as he glared daggers at Valgas. He gripped the chain of his iron ball in anger.

"Although I must admit that you're persistent." Valgas continued. "I admire the fact that you have a lot of determination."

"I'm not…Letting you…Get the boy." Chang growled.

"Sabretooth must have caught him by now." Valgas said confidently. "He's faster than any normal kid." An evil smirk on his face, Valgas looked at Chang. "Now, allow me to finish you off so I can continue."

Chang wasn't as stupid as he looked. He knew that unless he did something extremely drastic right about now, he'd be toast. In one last ditch attempt, Chang let out a battle cry and charged at Valgas, who charged forward as well.

The Korean man pulled his head back and prepared to deliver the hardest head-butt he could muster.

However, that's what Valgas was about to do as well. Both heads collided with such amazing force that it actually caused the ground to shake.

**(The Arena) **

The remaining fighters in the arena were trying to get the total number of fighters down to eight when a loud, muffled rumble was heard, followed by a hard quake, which shook everyone in the ring. With the exception of Vivian, who didn't have any legs, everyone was sent to the canvas.

Sonic looked up and asked the question everyone else was thinking.

"What the heck was that?"

**(Announcer's Booth) **

SSBFreak and Unknown1 felt the quake as well. As the whole booth shook, the two friends had to hold their drinks to prevent them from spilling.

When the quake died down, SSBFreak looked at the other announcer. "What was that?"

Unknown1 shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it was an earthquake, but I have to say that I've never heard an earthquake THAT loud before."

**(Dome; Hallways) **

Chang Koehan was barely standing. He breathed heavily as he looked down at the defeated figure of Valgas.

Before Chang could do anything else, he blacked out and fell to the ground.

Sabretooth suddenly rounded a corner, carrying an unconscious Junior Maximum. He saw Valgas' body and shook his head. "I can't believe you, Valgas. I leave you for three minutes and you get your butt whooped."

Sabretooth grabbed Valgas and walked off, dragging the unconscious man behind him.

When they were gone, Chang stirred, then woke up. Rubbing his head, Chang sat up.

The first thing Chang realized was that he couldn't remember anything. The only thing he could remember was that his name was Chang Koehan. Looking at his outfit and weapon, he suddenly decided that he must be an absolute master at Tae Kwon Do and strong enough to be the wielder of a powerful weapon.

"Chang Koehan?" Unknown1's voice rang through the speaker on the wall. "We need you to get ready to enter the arena."

Chang stood up to get ready to enter this 'arena', but suddenly remembered the boy being chased and the two freaks saying that they were going to kidnap him.

Eyes narrowed, Chang turned around and jogged off.

**(The Arena) **

Captain Kidd stood up after being stunned by that strange earthquake and dusted himself off. He looked around to find someone to eliminate.

"Another World Hero, eh? This'll be easy."

Kidd smirked. Perfect.

Turning around, Kidd saw Sakura. The schoolgirl cracked her knuckles. "That Viking from the last section said that you might be a good fighter, but as far as I'm concerned, you're all toast."

Kidd walked forward. "That's what you think." He replied. "Come on. Give me your best shot!"

Sakura smirked. "You asked for it." With that, Sakura charged forward.

However, Kidd had anticipated this and lashed out his arm, performing his Shark Punch. A ghostly image of a shark appeared over Kidd's fist and slammed into Sakura's face, making her drop out of her charge. Kidd continued by landed four more quick punches to her face, forcing her towards the ropes.

Sakura shook her head to regain her senses. "Okay. So maybe a few of you World Heroes have some skill, but that doesn't mean that any of you can win this!"

Kidd smirked and shrugged. "We know that. The main reason we're in this is to see if any of us can get any eliminations." Lashing out, Kidd quickly grasped the schoolgirl's arms. "Like this!"

The pirate captain spun in place, lifting Sakura off her feet. After spinning several times, Kidd let go of the schoolgirl, sending Sakura, arms flailing, clear out of the arena. Captain Kidd saluted Sakura as she vanished into the portal.

Sakura landed in Taz-Mania. When the Tazmanian Devil saw her land, he instantly fell in love and offered her a steak.

In the arena, Earthquake pulled his spiked weapon into the air and prepared to kill Watari with it. However, when he slammed it into the canvas, the only thing he managed to do was split a log.

The giant man looked around for Watari. "Where'd that punk go?"

"Up here, fatty!"

Earthquake looked up and saw Watari hanging onto one of the rafters. Suddenly, the ninja disappeared again, making a log appear in his place, which quickly fell from the sky. Earthquake didn't move and the log landed square on the forehead.

When Earthquake recovered from the blow, he saw Watari standing on the canvas, looking at him. Earthquake lifted his weapon and swung it downward. Watari quickly held up his ninja dagger, blocking the blow. Earthquake turned around and jumped back, preparing to sit on Watari.

The white-haired ninja saw this coming and ran backwards. As Earthquake hit the canvas, Watari quickly leapt over him and delivered a hard kick to the face.

Earthquake quickly got up and prepared to deliver a kick. Watari saw this coming, grabbed Earthquake's extra-thick leg and threw him over his shoulder using a shocking amount of ninja strength. Earthquake, too shocked to defend against falling to the canvas, landed on his head and got the daylights knocked out of him.

Watari quickly moved up to Earthquake and literally rolled him forward. Now if the hole wasn't in the middle of the arena, Earthquake wouldn't have been in trouble, but since it was, the giant man fell through and into the portal.

Earthquake ended up doing a belly-flop onto a sandy beach in Donkey Kong Country. The giant man sat up, looked around and grinned.

"I think I'm gonna like it here!"

Back in the arena, Watari turned around to see Galford and Poppy staring at him angrily.

"What's YOUR problem?" Watari asked. "Look, I eliminated your enemy for you."

"That's just the thing!" Galford replied, waving his index finger in the air. "He was MINE to eliminate! No one else's!"

Watari rolled his eyes, grabbed Galford and threw him over to the continuing duel between Mario and Sonic. The white-haired ninja then went on to start a fight with Raiden.

Mario stopped attacking in time to see Galford coming. "Here a-comes another a-one."

Sonic turned and also saw the American ninja coming. "You're right." He looked at the plumber. "I'll take this one."

The blue hedgehog curled into a ball and flew forward, attacking Galford with a Light Speed Attack. As Galford recoiled, Sonic leapt into the air and performed a series of Homing Attacks to Galford's head, giving the ninja a bigger headache with each strike.

As Sonic landed, he ran at the airborne Galford and leapt after him.

"He's actually doing it!" SSBFreak shouted through the speakers. "Folks, take a look at Sonic's next move, the 'Sonic Wind'!"

While in midair, Sonic spun around Galford several times, creating a blue tornado. Galford spun around inside for a few seconds before getting launched straight into the air. Sonic landed on the canvas again, lined himself up with Galford and charged up another Light Speed Attack.

Once fully-charged, Sonic shot upwards and landed a direct hit to Galford's chest, firing the ninja out of the arena. Galford was way too tired to try and teleport back in. Poppy jumped out after him.

Sonic turned back to Mario, who stared back with an impressed look.

"Very a-good, Sonic." Mario said. "You're a-getting better."

Sonic smirked. "Thanks, man. Now let's continue our fight."

Galford landed on a sandy beach with Poppy appearing beside him. The first thing he saw was an unmistakable form laying close to the water.

Galford grinned. "Well, well, well. Look who it is, Poppy."

Earthquake instantly recognized the voice and shot into a sitting position. Looking back, he saw his worst nightmare starting at him.

"I may not have gotten the chance to eliminate you, but I'll settle for defeating you here." And with that, Galford charged forward.

"Mommy!" Earthquake shouted in fear.

In the arena, Vivian landed a hard punch to Bruce Irvin's stomach, knocking the black kick-boxer away a few feet. Bruce jumped to his feet, rushed forward and landed a few hard kicks to the Shadow Siren's face.

Vivian looked up at Bruce, angry. "How could you hit a lady like that?" She demanded.

Bruce shook his head. "You're no ordinary lady." He replied. "I deal with the Williams sisters all the time."

Vivian smirked and snapped her fingers quickly.

Quickly remembering what happened to Cammy White several minutes ago, Bruce leapt to the side just as the area he was previously standing on exploded. Bruce quickly rushed at Vivian, leapt into the air and landed an airborne kick to her head.

The Shadow Siren looked up at Bruce, smirked and waved. "Bye-bye!" With that, Vivian started sinking into the ground to become a shadow again.

"Oh, no you don't!" Bruce shouted as he grabbed Vivian's hair and pulled her back out of the canvas. Vivian looked Bruce in the eyes and started sweating.

Knowing that he couldn't simply throw her from the arena due to the fact that Vivian was always anchored to the ground, Bruce decided to do the alternative. The black kick-boxer dragged Vivian to the hole in the canvas and held her over it. The spout connecting Vivian to the floor moved out and connected to the elimination portal.

Bruce smirked as he let go of Vivian and watched as she was pulled downwards, straight into the portal.

Vivian landed in Maximo: Army of Zin. She looked around and saw that she was in a gloomy village.

Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Vivian looked back and saw a hooded, skeletal face grinning at her.

"Hey, baby!" The Grim Reaper said. "Say, are you doing anything Friday night?"

Vivian didn't know how to answer that.

**(Suikoden Locker Room) **

Landis' uncovered eye lit up in excitement. "Grim Reaper!" He started bouncing in his seat repeatedly. _"Grim Reaper! Grim Reaper! Grim Reaper! Grim Reaper! Grim Reaper! Grim Reaper! Grim Reaper! Grim Reaper! Grim-"_

"_**SHADDAP, ALREADY!"**_ Everyone else in the Locker Room shouted at the same time.

**(The Arena) **

"Psycho Ball!"

Athena fired another Psycho Ball at Samus Aran, who, like usual, dodged it. Samus in turn ran at Athena and fired a missile at her. Athena teleported around the missile (which, in turn, struck Raiden in the back) and leapt into the air, flying downwards in a Phoenix Arrow.

Samus saw Athena coming down, pulled her arm cannon back and lashed it out, nailing Athena in the face.

When Athena landed, she looked up in time to see Samus fire a fully charged Charge Shot at her. Thinking quickly, Athena rolled out of the way and jumped to her feet. The young woman ran at Samus and slammed her foot into her helmet, making the bounty hunter stagger back.

Samus quickly retaliated with a kick of her own. The only difference was that Samus was wearing a metal suit, making the kick that much more powerful. Athena felt the full power of the blow and was sent flying back.

Athena stood up to take Samus on again, but was cut short when she saw the bounty hunter fire her blue grappling beam out of her arm cannon. The beam touched Athena and quickly wrapped itself around her, pinning her arms to her sides. Athena could do nothing but watch herself get pulled back towards Samus, whom was getting ready to deliver a punch.

The Psycho Soldier thought quickly and kicked as soon as she got within range. As Samus grasped her stomach in pain, Athena was released from the grappling beam. Athena took this opportunity to perform her rising uppercut, knocking Samus into the air and above the ropes. Athena quickly fixed that by firing a final Psycho Ball, hitting Samus with just enough power to tap her over the ropes and out of the arena.

Samus landed in a dark cave. Activating her night visor, Samus saw a huge, snarling beast bearing down on a young man with a strange, glowing, green sword of light.

Cocking her arm cannon, Samus ran forward, deciding to help Luke Skywalker kill the dreaded Rancor.

In the ring, Ling Xiaoyu ran towards the dueling pair of Sonic and Mario (which any of you know by now is pretty much a suicide attempt) in hopes of breaking them up.

"That's it, you two!" Xiaoyu shouted. "Stop this right now!"

Much to her surprise, Mario and Sonic froze, staring at her. Both of them were about half Xiaoyu's height.

"You two have been fighting ever since this section started!" Xiaoyu continued. "Fighting like this is just silly! It's almost like Haohmaru and Genjuro when they're fighting each other! Do you guys want to end up like them?"

Mario and Sonic stared in silence.

"Now, are you guys going to act like men and stop this nonsense?" Xiaoyu asked.

Mario and Sonic looked at each other, then back at Xiaoyu. "Nah." They said at the same time.

Before Xiaoyu had time to react, Mario ran at her and slid forward, knocking her off her feet. While Xiaoyu was on the ground, Sonic continued the attack with a Homing Attack to her head, knocking her to her back.

Mario continued with another Coinbox Jump, lifting Xiaoyu into the air. Sonic jumped into the air after her, doing another Sonic Wind. Xiaoyu was now at least twenty feet in the air.

The portly plumber did one of his patented super jumps, soaring straight into the air, quickly catching up with Xiaoyu. Once he reached her, Mario pulled his fist back and smashed it into Xiaoyu's forehead, firing her straight back into the canvas.

While Xiaoyu was on the ground again, Sonic curled into a ball and started revving up.

"Heads up, Mario!" Sonic called out as he shot forward and slammed into Xiaoyu, sending her flying towards Mario again.

Mario leapt into the air and waited for Xiaoyu to come close. Once she was close enough, Mario landed a kick with both legs, firing the schoolgirl out of the arena.

Xiaoyu landed in Kung Fu. Some goons mistook Xiaoyu for Sylvia, girlfriend of the game's hero, Thomas, and tried to kidnap her.

_Veeeeeeeeeeeeeery_ stupid mistake.

Back in the arena, the crowd was going nuts, cheering for both Mario and Sonic for the breathtaking display.

Mario laughed heartily and slapped Sonic on the back. "That a-was a-so awesome!"

Sonic was laughing just as loud. "Yeah, man!" He held up both hands. "High five! (slap) Low five! (slap)"

Around the arena, the other six remaining fighters were scattered around. Currently, Bruce Irvin was having another alliance, this one with Captain Kidd. They were currently fighting Athena and Reed. Watari waited patiently as his opponent, Raiden, finally pulled Samus Aran's dud missile from his back. Raiden shrugged and tossed the missile out of the ring. (However, some unfortunate fighters from the Mortal Kombat node found out that the missile WASN'T a dud)

Suddenly, everyone heard two laughs coming from above. Everyone knew by now that the two hands were about to alter the arena again.

**RESULTS**

MARIO MARIO (SSB)

ATHENA ASAMIYA (KOF)

WATARI (S3)

BRUCE IRVIN (T5)

RAIDEN (FF)

REED (S3)

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (StH)

CAPTAIN KIDD (WH)

**(ELIMINATED)**

JUBEI YAGYU (SS)

SAKURA KUSANAGO (SFA3)

VIVIAN (PM2)

CLARK STEELE (KOF)

LING XIAOYU (T5)

TAKUMA SAKAZAKI (KOF)

CODY (SFA3)

EARTHQUAKE (SS)

GALFORD (SS)

SAMUS ARAN (SSB)

ALVAN (GF)

PERCIVAL FRAULEIN (S3)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Big Guy Bashing"**

CHANG KOEHAN (KOF) _**crushes**_ VALGAS (Power Stone)

"**Security Smash" **

MASTER CHIEF (Halo), JOANNA DARK (PD) and SAMURAI GOROH (F-Z)

_**triumph over **_

GANNONDORF DRAGMIRE (SSB) and YUBER (S3)

Eliminations: Mario and Athena, 2; Watari, Bruce, Raiden, Reed, Sonic, Kidd, Jubei and Sakura, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: Jubei Yagyu (4), Bruce Irvin (3), Athena Asamiya (3)

**Reversal of Fortune:** In one round, every single Samurai Showdowner gets eliminated. Even Jubei Yagyu, the tournament's current heavy-hitter, got tossed.


	10. Section Four

**(The Arena) **

The booming laugh from Master Hand and the deranged cackle from Crazy Hand were the only things the eight fighters in the ring could hear. No one dared move, because they didn't know what was going to happen to the arena next. Everyone was too busy looking up that they didn't notice the hole in the canvas close up again.

In the air, the two hands shook…Uh…Hands and flew away from each other. When they each reached a corner of the ring, both hands lifted into the air, each of them preparing to deliver a massive Karate chop.

Both hands came down hard. The force from the double chop caused the whole arena to shake.

Then, it happened.

Two huge, perfectly straight, cracks started forming on the two corners of the arena. As soon as the two cracks connected, the whole arena split into two perfect triangles, which slowly moved away from each other. When the two pieces stopped moving, there was a good gap in between the two.

"Folks, this is getting serious!" SSBFreak said. "That gap is small enough for the average fighter to jump, but it's also big enough for anyone to fall through and get eliminated!"

Knowing that the next fighter was due to come out by now, everyone looked at the entrance curtain.

"**BALROG!" (SFA3) **

The original black boxer pounded his fists together and ran down to the ring to do some serious bone-breaking.

Balrog leapt into the arena, ran towards the gap and made a leap of faith, sailing over the gap and landing on the other piece of the arena.

The banned boxer quickly slammed his rock-hard fist into Raiden's cheek, but quickly felt one of Watari's ninja stars dig into his back.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"Hey, SSBFreak?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you noticed that Balrog has a few extra bruises?"

SSBFreak looked at Balrog, suddenly saw that the boxer looked a little beat up, and scratched his head.

**(The Arena) **

"**NIGHTCRAWLER!" (MC) **

Rather than run down to the arena, Nightcrawler teleported into the ring with his trademark 'bamf!' and purple smoke.

The German mutant instantly leapt into the air and planted his feet into the square of Bruce's back, then vanished. He reappeared again at Bruce's feet and tripped him, then vanished and reappeared overtop the black kick-boxer and planted his feet into his chest.

Suddenly, Nightcrawler sensed something coming at him. Vanishing for a split second, Nightcrawler appeared to see a ninja star fly straight into Mario's stomach. Nightcrawler turned to see Watari.

"Vat vas zat about?" The German asked.

"Vanishing should be reserved for ninjas only." Watari said. "I'll show you for stealing our trademark."

"**HEAVY D!" (KOF) **

"_It hardly seems like a year ago" _

"_That I packed my bags and some money I'd saved" _

"_I had a yearning to find myself"_

"_And to see this land of the free and the brave"_

With Farrell and Farrell coming through the speakers, the tall boxer walked down the ramp to a positive crowd reaction, waving to the crowd. Now that he was back in the action, he could prove to everyone that he could do well.

However, now that this plot had come up, Heavy D! would have to make proving himself a second priority. The only thing he could worry about while he was in the ring is that Lucky, Ryoko and Bridget could find extra help as well.

"_I saw my first mountain sunrise"_

"_From an appellation range"_

"_I felt a heavenly presence"_

"_And a rushing wind of change" _

However, D! was unaware that Reed was also trying to find allies. If they could meet and explain to each other about the plot, they would be able to join forces, thus making their groups outside of the ring twice as numerous.

"_I am an American man"_

"_I'm made of American dreams" _

"_I am an American man"_

"_Returning to the things I once believed"_

Unfortunately, Balrog had seen D! come into the arena, and raised his fist. "Heavy D! I'll teach you for copying my style!"

D! scratched his head as Balrog threw himself over the gap and ran at him. "Who the heck is this guy?"

**(Hotel; Bison's Room) **

"Boss!"

Bison turned to see Vega coming into the room. "Whatever you're here for, it had better be to deliver some good news." He said as he walked over.

"It is, sir." Vega said. "Mel Masters and Junior Maximum have been apprehended."

Bison nodded. "Good. That's a start."

Vega rubbed the back of his head. "Uh...There IS some bad news. Gannondorf, Yuber and Valgas have been beaten in some battles outside of the arena."

"No great loss if they can recover." Bison said. "However, we WILL need some more help." After thinking for a few seconds, he looked at Vega again. "Vega."

"Yes, sir?"

"Get Ash Crimson on the phone."

**(Dome; Gym Room) **

Gozu and Mezu, the ninjas from the Kizuna Encounter node, walked into the gym to work out for their respective entrances into the ring. However, they had also received orders from King Lion to help out in this plot M. Bison was leading. Although reluctant at first, Gozu and Mezu agreed to work.

Mezu sighed. "Gozu, do you think it was wise for the Kizuna Encounter node to come to this tournament?" He asked. "Max Eagle didn't do very well. I mean, the one to eliminate him was the small robot with the malfunction."

"Don't worry, Mezu." Gozu replied. "There's a chance that at least one of us can get an elimination."

"Well, what about this plot?" Mezu asked. "I have this uneasy feeling that we're going to get our butts kicked if we go along with it."

"Not to worry, Mezu." The red-clad ninja said. "We're ninjas. We can accomplish things like this."

"You two? Ninjas? HA!"

Gozu and Mezu turned to see a new figure drop from the ceiling banisters. This new figure was dressed in a purple ninja suit and, strangely, had a mullet.

"Sorry, pal. The 80's is that way." Gozu said, pointing to the right. Mezu chuckled.

"Save it, chowder-head." The new ninja said. "I am Eiji Kisaragi, and I know true ninjas when I see them." He glared at the two. "You two are NOT ninjas."

"You DARE say that about us?" Mezu asked, getting into his stance.

Eiji looked at Gozu and Mezu running at him together, and prepared himself for a fight.

**(The Arena) **

"**LILLY PENDRAGON!" (S3) **

The boos were almost deafening as Lilly, the biggest brat within twenty different nodes, came out from behind the curtain. The aristocrat heard all of the boos directed at her and was incredibly offended.

"How DARE these people! They're booing the one that's going to win this stupid tournament! Ohhh, I'll show them!" Lilly said.

Lilly ran headfirst down to the arena and quickly picked a fight with Captain Kidd. The pirate captain quickly picked her up and threw her over the gap, sending Lilly flying straight into Nightcrawler.

The instant Lilly got into the arena, however, Reed hid behind Raiden, cowering. _"Don't let her find me. Don't let her find me. Don't let her find me. Don't let her…"_

"**YOSHI!" (SSB) **

Coming out to the traditional Yoshi theme, everyone's favourite green lizard cheerfully ran down to the arena as a good amount of people cheered. Yoshi jumped into the arena, ran to the gap and flutter jumped over it.

Mario turned in time to see Yoshi flutter over the gap, towards him. "Hey! A-Yoshi!"

"Yoshi!" The green dinosaur greeted as he jumped up and down.

"Yes, I a-know this is a-great tournament so a-far!" Mario replied.

Bruce came over. "You can actually understand that thing?"

Yoshi's response was to eat Bruce and turn him into an egg.

Raiden heard some new music and looked at the entryway, where all of the spotlights were shining on.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**FOUR**!"

"**MAXI!" (Soul Calibur 3) **

Twirling his nunchucks in his hand, Maxi, dressed in his white outfit, appeared on the ramp. Seeing the audience cheering for him, Maxi smirked and waved. Looking down towards the arena, Maxi walked forward in hopes of getting an elimination.

He got about three steps when he heard his theme music. Like Sonic before him, Maxi froze, and looked up at the Sound Booth. He didn't know what it was, but this song was DEFINITELY not the one he had requested. The song that was now playing was "Hound Dog" by Elvis.

Everyone in the audience quickly started laughing again, but not because of the song. It was because of whom was singing it.

Maxi scratched his head. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he cloud feel that he was somehow getting made fun of. He shrugged and continued to the arena.

**(Sound Booth) **

A huge man with an axe laughed heartily as he walked away from the sound stereo and over to his new friend, a small, black hedgehog.

Astaroth laughed and looked down at his friend. "Hey, thanks for letting me do that, buddy!"

Shadow the Hedgehog smirked in amusement. "No problem, man. That was actually pretty funny."

Both of the two then warped out of the room, thanks to another of Shadow's Chaos Controls.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Ash Crimson smirked as he flipped his cell phone shut. "So, this 'Bison' fellow wants my help? He has excellent taste in skills."

Ash looked at the arena and saw Balrog. He had heard that this boxer was working for Bison, thus making him an ally.

"Heh. I can see why he needs more help." He smirked. "With guys like that boxer working for him, I can see why he loses all the time."

Ash stood up, worked his way through the seats containing the other eliminated fighters until he got to the walkway in the middle, and started walking towards the doorway leading into the dome. However, Ash was unaware that Jin Chonrei was watching him go, and the young-looking man didn't like the confident smirk on the prettyboy's face.

"Something's up." Chonrei concluded. He was about to stand up to follow Ash, but stopped when he saw what was happening.

Just as Ash was getting close to the doorway, he bumped into someone, obviously an eliminated fighter coming back from the recovery room.

"Look, buddy." Ash said as he looked at the fighter. "Why don't you watch where-" He cut himself short when he saw who it was.

"Orange crouton zoom zoom butterscotch!" Gadget Z said brightly.

Ash stared down at the small robot. "It's you." He growled.

"I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam." The barrel-shaped robot replied.

Ash grit his teeth. Because he had made the stupid decision of attacking Gadget Z from behind as soon as he was in the arena, Max Eagle and Cammy White double-teamed him and eliminated him extremely quickly.

"Before I continue on, I think I'll take some anger out on you." Ash said as he ignited his hand.

Gadget Z raised his hammer. "Crikey! Ya'd better watch out fer this one, mates!" He said in an eerily convincing Australian accent.

**(The Arena) **

"**BRAD BURNS!" (VF) **

Brad, one of the two newer additions to the Virtua Fighter roster, came out from behind the curtain and walked down to the ring.

The Thai fighter was seriously thinking about why his node entered the tournament. Sure, Pai got an elimination, but she didn't survive the round. Jacky didn't do too much better, either.

"Well, I might as well just give it a shot and see what I can do." Brad said to himself as he leapt into the ring.

Bruce saw him leap in and approached him. "You're a Thai fighter, am I right?" He asked.

"Yeah." Brad said.

Bruce thought for a few seconds. "I've never heard of you." He dropped into a stance. "Let's see what you've got."

Brad shrugged. "Okay."

"**MORIYA MINAKATA!" (LB) **

"And here's the third fighter from the Last Blade node." SSBFreak said as Moriya walked down to the ring. "You think he has a chance of making up for Amano's and Okina's performances?"

"I believe so." Unknown1 replied. "After all, he's making a comeback in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum."

Moriya had heard the remark and sighed. Maybe the added training in NGBC would help him in a tournament like this, but maybe not. After all, gaming giants like Mario and Sonic were still in the ring.

The long-haired swordsman looked around the ring and ran over to attack Raiden. One slash sent the huge wrestler was sent flying away.

However, with Raiden gone, Reed's hiding place was gone as well. Lilly quickly spotted him.

"Ah, Reed! There you are!" Lilly said. "Help me eliminate this guy! Just make sure that I knock him out of the ring!"

Reed whimpered.

Meanwhile, Watari saw the scene and shook his head. "I almost feel sorry for Reed."

Everyone in the arena suddenly heard a very loud noise coming from behind the curtain.

"*HACK!* *cough* *hack* *HACK!*"

This sole noise gave away the identity of the next fighter.

"**UKYO TACHIBANA!" (SS) **

Ukyo came out from behind the curtain, coughing and hacking constantly. Although people were cheering for him wildly, Ukyo was too busy trying to keep his sick coughing under control to notice.

By the time he had controlled his cough, Ukyo was already in the arena. The blue-haired swordsman leapt over the gap separating the two pieces of the arena and ran to challenge Moriya.

Captain Kidd, however, stopped him. "Are you alright, man? That was some nasty coughing."

"*cough, cough* I'm…Fine, really." Ukyo assured.

"If you're really sick, fighting in here will just make you sicker, you know." Kidd continued.

Ukyo narrowed his eyes. "Please, just *cough* let me through."

With that, Ukyo threw an apple at Kidd…

**(Hotel; Bison's Room) **

"Vega, has Balrog entered the arena yet?" Bison asked.

"He has, sir." The masked matador replied. "He is currently trying to fight Heavy D!."

"Very good." The Shadaloo leader said. "What about Crimson?"

"I called him a few minutes ago." Vega assured. "He's on board."

Bison stroked his chin and grinned evilly. "Things are definitely looking up. The way things are going, we'll have everything completed before this tournament ends."

Vega nodded, unaware of the shadowed figure that was approaching him from behind.

"Raging…STORM!"

By the time Vega realized what had happened, it was already too late. He took the full force of the attack and was sent flying into the wall. If he had been conscious, Vega would have remarked how glad he was to be wearing the mask to protect his face.

Bison looked at the newcomer, not very surprised of whom it was.

Geese Howard stood at the door, his arms flowing with remaining energy from the move he had just done.

"What did you do that for, Howard?" Bison asked, walking forward. "Why did you pound Vega into a pulp?"

"I've been having second thoughts." Geese replied. "After some serious thought, I've decided that I just can't do this to Billy. He's far too loyal for me to betray."

"So, your bodyguard is above the ultimate power, is he?" Bison asked.

Geese replied by lowering his arms and getting into his stance. "Yes."

"Very well." Bison lifted a hand, engulfing it with Psycho power. "It seems like I'll have to knock some sense into you, then."

**(The Arena) **

"**ASUKA KAZAMA!" (T5) **

Asuka, one of three newer additions to the Tekken roster, came out from behind the curtain and walked down to the ring. Although she was upset that her draw was so early, Asuka knew that she could do some serious damage and then let her cousin Jin clean up when he came out.

The young woman was about to leap over the gap when she saw Maxi looking at her. Asuka froze and looked back at him. "May I help you?"

Maxi smirked and walked over. "Hey, miss. Say, what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"

Asuka stared in silence for a few seconds before striking Maxi in the face hard, firing the Elvis-lookalike over the gap before colliding with Mario.

Asuka shook her head. "That guy has lamer pickup lines than PAUL."

Meanwhile, Balrog was starting to corner Athena Asamiya. After Heavy D! had sent him over the gap, Balrog had gone to start another fight.

"Now, stay still so I can eliminate you!" Balrog prepared to lunge forward and knock Athena from the ring.

"**CHANG KOEHAN!" (KOF) **

Robert Garcia was drinking some Coke when he took a look at the entrance curtain. However, once he did, Robert spat out his drink in a mist-like form (drenching Hugo, whom was sitting in front of him, at the same time) and did a double-take to make sure that he wasn't dreaming.

Chang Koehan jogged down the ramp to get to the ring, his iron ball slung over his shoulder. However, what made everyone stare in shock was the fact that Chang was now wearing a blue skin-cap that covered his bald head and went to the bridge of his nose. Eyeholes were cut out, providing Chang a way to see. A blue cape wafted in the air behind him as the huge man ran.

Once he reached the bottom of the ramp, Chang leapt high into the air and steered himself towards Balrog.

"**THUNDER FLOP!"** Chang announced in midair.

Balrog looked up and saw a huge blob of fat falling towards him. "What the-" was all he could get out before Chang landed on him. Chang stood up and kicked Balrog away.

Athena looked up at Chang, confused. "Uh…Chang?"

"Stand back, citizen!" Chang said bravely. "'The Koehan' will protect you from this vile beast!"

Chang waited until Balrog was on his feet, then lunged forward, preparing to swing his iron ball. "Have at thee, criminal!" He shouted.

**(KOF Locker Room) **

Choi, Terry, Benimaru, Kensou, Whip and Joe stared at the monitor, slack-jawed. Even Kim was shocked, completely speechless for once in his life.

"…'The Koehan'?" Kensou asked.

"I have no idea what happened to Chang backstage," Choi said. "And for some reason, I don't think I ever want to find out."

**(The Arena) **

"And now, the final fighter of this section…"

"**GEDDOE!" (S3) **

Out of all of the Suikoden 3 fighters that had entered the arena thus far, Geddoe's cheer was easily the loudest. As the leader of his mercenary team, Geddoe made it his duty to make up for whatever mistakes his team-mates had done.

Luckily, the only one in the team to enter the ring before him was Queen.

Charging his True Lightning Rune, the long-haired man leapt into the arena.

Sonic saw him come in and groaned. "Man! We just got rid of the LAST guy with one eye! Now a NEW guy with only one eye comes in!"

Seconds later, Sonic was sent flying over the gap, crackling with electricity. Geddoe stood, his hand still outstretched from when he had cast the lightning magic.

Geddoe smirked. "This could be fun."

**(Dome; Hallways) **

"Where're we going, Mr. Glauber?" Bridget asked as he tried to keep up with the huge basketball player.

"To find Amy Guile before these creeps get her!" Lucky replied as he flew down the hall.

After Heavy D! had gone to enter the ring, Lucky had taken Bridget and Ryoko to find some more help. After a good several minutes, Lucky had decided that it may be a good idea to find Amy, the only target he knew about, and protect her. Currently, the three were racing through the dome's hallways to find a door that led to the bleachers.

"I hope we can find her before something happens!" Ryoko exclaimed.

"Don't worry." Lucky assured. "We will."

Bridget looked down the hallway. Being a bounty hunter, he was able to see hidden things better and saw something that Lucky and Ryoko couldn't. His eyes snapped open. "Guys! Stop!"

Lucky and Ryoko heard him and quickly screeched to a halt.

Suddenly, a figure fell from the ceiling and landed directly where Lucky had been standing. The figure stood up, revealing a sword stuck in the floor, showing that he had just tried to run Lucky through from above. The figure looked at the trio, showing his dark face and pale, white hair.

The dark assassin Setsuna.

Setsuna growled. "You got lucky there, basketball player." He pulled his sword from the ground. "This time, however, you won't be so lucky."

Lucky raised his arm into the air and caught a basketball that fell from nowhere. He then looked at Bridget and Ryoko. "You two go on and try to find Amy Guile on your own."

Without giving anyone a chance to react, Lucky hurled the orange projectile at Setsuna, striking the assassin in the face. "GO!" He shouted.

Bridget and Ryoko took their chance and started running, slipping by Setsuna while the evil man was still stunned.

Setsuna shook off the effects of the attack and narrowed his eyes at Lucky. "I'll make your you die slowly for that." With that, Setsuna charged headfirst at the taller man.

Lucky caught another basketball. "Let's get this show on the road!"


	11. Section Four Results

**(The Arena) **

"Take this, scumbag!" Chang Koehan, now calling himself 'The Koehan', roared at Balrog heroically as he lashed out his huge foot. "This will teach you to attack a lady! Especially one as skilled as Athena Asamiya!"

Although everyone in the arena was extremely creeping out at Chang's sudden conversion from criminal to superhero, they tried to resume fighting with their respective opponents as much as they could.

Mario and Sonic, ever since teaming up against Ling Xiaoyu, had stopped fighting each other and started fights with some of the others. Mario and Yoshi were currently in a fight with Bruce Irvin while Sonic was busy trying to take down Geddoe on his own.

Reed, in the meantime, had his hands full. Lilly, his employer, had dragged him from his mission of trying to get help and was making him help her fight Nightcrawler.

The blonde man was thinking heavily as he fought. He had to come up with a plan to get away from Lilly and get back to gathering allies.

"Come on, Reed! Take him down!" Lilly ordered as she watched Reed from aside. "Just make sure that you leave throwing him from the ring to me!"

Nightcrawler shook his head and dodged a slash from Reed. "How do you put up viff her, zir?" He asked.

Reed sighed. "I've been putting up with her for ten years. I've gotten used to it."

**(Announcer's Booth) **

SSBFreak flipped off his mic again. "Hey, Unknown1?"

"Yeah?"

"You notice how a couple fighters get their theme songs changed?"

Unknown1 scratched his head. "Yeah, but I didn't really pay much attention."

"Well, when it happened to Sonic, I just thought that it was a joke." SSBFreak explained. "But now it happened to Maxi as well. I'm starting to get suspicious here."

"Well, what do we do?" Unknown1 asked.

"Call up a few guards and have them stand outside the sound booth." The taller announcer explained. "If someone else gets his or her theme song changed, have them enter and confront the culprit before he or she has a chance to escape."

"Got it." Unknown1 grabbed the phone and started dialing.

**(KOF Locker Room) **

"Chang's gone NUTS!" Choi held his head in panic. "Something happened to him backstage and now he thinks he's some kind of superhero!"

"What can we do to get him to snap out of it?" Terry asked.

"Why try to stop it?" Kim countered. "He thinks he's a superhero, so none of us have to worry about him pulling any criminal stunts."

"He has a point." Ralf added.

"True, but leaving Chang to believe something he isn't is wrong." Whip said.

"Well, I guess the only thing we can do is try to get him to snap out of it either when one of us enters the ring, or when he gets eliminated." Mai sighed.

**(The Arena) **

Lilly Pendragon stamped her foot. "Come ON, Reed! Wear him down for me! It's taking you way too long!"

"I'm trying the best I can, milady!" Reed tried to reason.

Reed slashed the air again, but Nightcrawler evaded with a quick teleport. The blue-skinned German mutant appeared overtop of Reed and slammed his feet down, firing the blonde man into the canvas. Reed slowly got to his feet and, for once, ignored the annoyed shouts coming from Lilly.

Suddenly, Reed came up with an idea. The Tinto soldier jabbed at Nightcrawler with his sword, but the blue-skinned man was far too quick. After dodging to the side, Nightcrawler slammed his fist into Reed's face, sending him to the ground, where he lay unmoving.

Lilly's face turned red with fury. "Oh, Reed! You clumsy, stupid idiot!" She shouted. "I ask you to do ONE stinking little thing and you fail miserably!" She stamped her feet repeatedly. "Now, because of your incompetence, I have to take this guy out myself! And show you how easy it is!"

A shadow suddenly fell over Lilly. She turned to see Nightcrawler perched on the turnbuckle at the corner of the arena, looking down at her in anger.

"Haf you no reespect for ze unconscious?" Nightcrawler asked.

Lilly growled and swung her sword. Nightcrawler responded by vanishing in a cloud of purple smoke.

Nightcrawler appeared behind Lilly, grabbed her and threw her into the ground. Using his pointed tail, the blue-skinned man lifted Lilly up by her ankle and tossed her aside.

Once she landed, Lilly stood up and looked at Nightcrawler in fury. "You'll pay for that, you freak!" The female brat charged forward and prepared to run Nightcrawler through.

However, Nightcrawler was prepared. Just as Lilly came within arms reach, Nightcrawler grabbed her jacket and vanished again, this time taking Lilly with him.

Nightcrawler, with Lilly, appeared outside of the ring. The pair quickly tumbled down towards the elimination portal.

The blue-skinned mutant quickly released Lilly and teleported back into the ring just in time to watch Lilly, screaming angrily, fall through the portal.

As soon as he heard the announcement, Reed stopped playing possum and stood up again. He looked around and saw the Lilly was indeed gone from the arena.

"Guess my plan worked." Reed smirked.

Geddoe flew over the gap between the two sections of the arena and landed on his side. Standing up, the one-eyed man saw Sonic, his opponent on the other side. The long-haired mercenary stood to his feet and readied his sword. This hedgehog, despite being small, was an incredibly tough opponent to beat.

Sonic, on the other hand, was feeling extremely confident. Curling into a ball, Sonic charged up a Spin Dash and sent himself flying over the gap in the arena and towards Geddoe.

However, this was exactly what Geddoe was planning. The mercenary slammed his right hand into the ground, making a pillar of lightning shoot into the air. This was unfortunately in Sonic's path. As the hedgehog passed through the pillar of lightning, he was brought out of his dash and fell to the ground, twitching.

Geddoe smirked. "Looks like I finally have the advantage." He said aloud.

Just as Geddoe reached down to throw Sonic from the arena, the blue hedgehog snapped out of his daze and jumped to his feet.

Geddoe shook his head. "You sure are persistent." He said.

Sonic smirked. "Thanks, pops. I try."

When Sonic called him 'pops', Geddoe narrowed his good eye. Sure, he had a few wrinkles. Sure he was one hundred and twelve years old. Sure, the True Rune he had prevented him from aging, but he still hated to be called 'pops'.

"Watch your tongue, hedgehog." Geddoe warned. "I don't want to hurt you any more than I need you."

"Oh, is the big, bad man with the eyepatch gonna kill me?" Sonic mocked. "I've already shown that I can recover from your electricity attacks. What makes you think you can take me down now?"

Geddoe responded by sending his fist into Sonic's face. As Sonic staggered back, Geddoe focused his power on his right hand, where the True Lightning Rune was embedded. The mercenary quickly put his sword back in its holster.

As fast as Sonic was, he was completely unprepared for what happened. Geddoe grabbed him by the chest, turned and threw him out of the ring.

"Folks, keep your eyes on Geddoe!" SSBFreak's voice came through all the speakers. "His magic is completely charged!"

SSBFreak was right. Geddoe thrust his hand out at Sonic, whom was falling away. A strange, green energy started forming a ball in front of Geddoe's hand. Once the ball got big enough, a huge beam of electricity fired from it, slamming into the airborne hedgehog. The sheer power from the blast sent Sonic flying far enough to strike the forcefield protecting the audience from stray attacks.

Sonic peeled from the forcefield and fell headlong into the elimination portal.

Sonic landed on a concrete freeway. Standing up and looking around, Sonic figured that he had landed back in Station Square.

"Man! This stinks!" Sonic said. "I'm one of gaming's biggest names and I only get ONE elimination! And to top it all off, the guy that eliminates me is from a series where almost no characters return for the sequel!" The hedgehog sighed. "I don't think I can take any more torment."

Suddenly, a purple rodent clad in a yellow tanktop, denim shorts and sneakers ran by at speeds that even Sonic himself would be jealous of. His red spike hairdo seemed like it was struggling to keep up with him.

Rocky Rodent looked back. "Then I suggest you start running, pal!" He shouted as he ran off down the freeway.

His eyebrows raised in confusion, Sonic looked back. He saw a huge oil tanker barreling in his direction, a psychotic-looking mole behind the wheel.

Sonic let out an 'eep' and ran off after Rocky.

**(Koopa Castle) **

Lilly walked down a stone hallway, her newfound friend beside her. This newcomer, a female Koopa, had a polka-dotted bow resting on her head. For once, Lilly was in a friendly conversation.

"You simply MUST tell me where you get your lipstick." Lilly said to the female Koopa.

"Really? Does it look THAT good?" Wendy O. Koopa asked.

"Are you kidding?" Lilly asked. "I've been DYING to find that colour!"

"Well, I'll gladly tell you where you can find some if you can share one of YOUR secrets." Wendy said.

"Such as?" Lilly raised an eyebrow.

"What shampoo do you use? That hair of yours is absolutely STUNNING!" Wendy replied. "I've been trying all sorts of shampoo, but I can never seem to get any hair."

"Oh, that's no problem." Lilly smiled. "I can give you some tips if you like."

"Say!" Wendy's eyes widened. "We should swap mailing addresses! That way, we can stay in touch!"

Lilly brightened. "WONDERFUL idea! But we'd better hurry. I'm only here for ten minutes."

As Lilly and Wendy started writing down their mailing addresses, two figures watched them from the shadows.

Larry Koopa shuddered in fear. "What do we do now, Ludwig? There's TWO of them!"

Ludwig, for once in his life, was unable to answer.

**(SSB Locker Room) **

Roy looked at Bowser in time to see him wiping a tear from his eye. "Uh…Bowser? You're…Crying."

Bowser smiled. "My little Wendy has finally found a friend. I can't help myself."

As Bowser continued sniffling in happiness, everyone sitting or standing near him promptly moved away a couple steps.

**(The Arena) **

Chang's iron wrecking ball collided with Balrog's cheek, sending the black boxer flying several feet away. As Balrog staggered to his feet, he saw Chang lumbering over to him.

Ever since he saw Balrog picking on Athena, Chang hadn't given the boxer a break. Athena, deciding it was wise not to bother them, teleported away and ended up starting a fight with Brad Burns.

Balrog growled and slammed his gloves together. "Okay, fat boy! It's time for me to get serious!"

Chang smirked. "I guess that means 'The Koehan' can stop going easy on you, then."

As Balrog charged forward, Chang stood his ground. Once Balrog got close enough, Chang grabbed him with his extra-thick arm and tossed him over the gap like a ragdoll. Balrog landed on the other half of the arena, on his back.

Looking up, Balrog snapped out of his daze in time to see Chang jumping over the gap and starting to fall towards him. Balrog's eyes snapped open as he rolled out of the way just in time. Chang landed on his feet, directly where Balrog was lying a second earlier.

"You could have KILLED me, man!" Balrog shouted.

If Chang had any hair, a shadow would have fallen over his face. A very Kim-like glint appeared in his eye.

"Evil is unforgivable!" Chang shouted, ignoring Balrog.

Chang lunged forward at Balrog, whom prepared to deliver his Gigaton Blow.

Balrog thrust his fist out, but Chang was somehow quick enough to sidestep it. Chang quickly swung his iron wrecking ball, sending Balrog flying again. Balrog landed and tried standing up, although he was starting to feel a little weak.

When Balrog was standing straight, he looked forward just in time to see Chang lunging at him again.

"**HEIZAN!"** Chang roared and lifted his foot.

Everyone knew how Chang fought. When Chang tried the Heinzan, he always missed, flipped into the air and landed on his opponent.

However, this time, Chang's foot connected.

Everyone in the arena, audience and locker rooms watched in shock as Chang pulled off a move that he could never seem to get right and make it look like he had been doing it for years. With a noise that sounded like a cannon being fired, Chang successfully kicked Balrog in the chest, launching the boxer out of the arena.

Chang lowered his foot, his expression unsurprised. Standing straight, Chang turned and charged off to start another fight.

Balrog, in the meantime, landed in River City Ransom. Standing up, he found that he was standing in front of a building.

Suddenly, Moose appeared and landed a kick to Balrog's back.

Balrog turned and slammed his fist into Moose's face angrily, instantly knocking him out.

Balrog was about to walk off when he saw a coin jumping in place instead of Moose lying on the ground. In curiosity, Balrog picked it up and stared at it for a few seconds. Suddenly, a grin appeared on his face.

"I got paid!"

With that, Balrog pummeled whatever gang member he could find and swiped whatever coins they left behind. The total amount of money he had was quickly rising.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"Well, whaddya know?" Unknown1 said as he watched the monitor. "Looks like he's finally found his calling."

**(Dome; Gym Room) **

Gozu started to think that taking on his current opponent wasn't such a good idea as he flew into a rack of weights. Taking on a skilled ninja was tough enough, but someone like him taking on Eiji Kasaragi, now THAT was suicide.

Then again, it didn't really help matters that Gozu and Mezu were from the Kizuna Encounter node.

As Gozu struggled to get to his feet, Mezu attacked Eiji with his blade. Eiji, however, saw this coming. The ninja with the mullet casually backhanded Mezu away and watched the blue-clad man fly into a wall.

While Eiji was dealing with Mezu, Gozu had managed to stand. Charging forward, Gozu prepared to take out the purple-clad ninja from behind. Eiji looked over his shoulder, saw Gozu coming and took quick action.

Spinning in place, Eiji lined his vision up with Gozu and lashed out his ninja sword. Suddenly, a crescent-shaped energy projectile launched from Eiji's blade and slammed into Gozu, knocking him away again.

"Is that all you got?" Eiji asked. "If you want to be better ninjas, you need a lot more skill than that!"

Gozu grunted as he got to his feet. "Well, at least Mezu and I have actually seen work recently." He chuckled weakly. "When was your last job again? 1995?"

Eiji's eyes flared up. "Shut up!" He roared as he lunged at Gozu.

Seeing Eiji charging at him furiously, Gozu realized all too late that he had just said something extremely stupid.

Luckily for the red-clad ninja, his brother Mezu decided to lend a hand. Diving in from the side, Mezu slammed his body into Eiji, knocking him away from Gozu.

After landing on his side, Eiji leapt to his feet again. "Impressive, blue ninja." Eiji said. "I should've seen that one coming."

Ripping his sword from its holster, Eiji threw himself at Mezu and prepared a vertical slash. However, Mezu raised his arm as two blades of steel shot from the knuckles of his gauntlet. They parried Eiji's blow perfectly.

Using his other hand, Mezu waved it around a few times, causing an explosion of water to erupt underneath Eiji's feet. The purple-clad ninja rocketed into the air and landed on the ground.

Mezu looked back. "Gozu! Finish it!" He said.

Gozu nodded as he leapt to his feet and ran forward. Waving his hand as he ran, Gozu created a wave of fire and launched it at Eiji.

Eiji snapped out of his daze in time to see Gozu's fire wave coming at him. Acting with amazing speed, Eiji rolled to the side, avoiding the fire. He stood straight and looked at Gozu and Mezu.

"I see the you control the elements." Eiji said. "Interesting. However, I must finish this battle now."

Lashing out his sword again, Eiji sent another beam of crescent-shaped energy at the two ninjas, this one bigger than the first.

Gozu and Mezu looked at each other and realized that they were in deep trouble.

The slicing energy slammed into both ninjas, knocking them away and cutting off a piece of each of their gauntlets.

Gozu and Mezu landed on the ground, looked at Eiji, looked back and saw that they were close to the door.

"Let's get out of here, Mezu." Gozu said.

Mezu nodded. "Right."

The elemental ninja brothers stood up and bolted from the gym, leaving Eiji Kisaragi alone and victorious.

Eiji smirked behind his mask as he shoved his sword back into the holster. "Those two may have surprised me, but I still come out victorious."

The ninja with the mullet was about to leave the gym himself when he suddenly spotted the two pieces of Gozu and Mezu's gauntlets lying on the floor. It was clear to tell which one was which because one was red and the other was blue.

His eyebrow raised in confusion, Eiji walked over to the two pieces of metal, bent down and picked them up, one in each hand.

Eiji was holding the two pieces for exactly three seconds before he suddenly felt a severe surge of pain flow through his body. Looking at himself in horror, he saw red and blue energy flowing all over himself.

In sheer pain, Eiji let out a scream of agony and collapsed to the floor in a dead faint.

**(The Arena) **

Speaking of ninjas, Watari was currently in the middle of a battle with Raiden. Ever since before Samus Aran was eliminated, these two fighters had been dueling. Watari, despite the fatigue, was currently winning, although Raiden was definitely holding his own.

Watari saw Raiden lunge at him and tried teleporting, but fatigue was starting to tire him out and he just wasn't fast enough. Raiden wrapped his arms around the young ninja and slammed him into the canvas. The huge wrestler waited patiently for Watari to stand up.

The white-haired ninja rubbed his chin. "You're good for someone who hasn't seen a lot of work in a while."

Raiden grinned. "Thank you. I gained a little more popularity after I was invited to the CVS tournament. You're not bad yourself."

Watari nodded. "I appreciate the comment."

"Well, let's continue our battle." Raiden suggested. "I am eager to find out which of us defeats the other."

"Quite."

Raiden lunged at Watari and thrust his fist forward. Using his quick 'ninja skillz', Watari leaned to the side swiftly and avoided the blow. The ninja then leapt into the air and landed his foot against the larger man's chin, making Raiden stagger back.

Quickly recovering, Raiden patted his chest a couple of times and bent over, preparing to belch again.

Watari quickly remembered what happened to Percival and took evasive action.

Raiden's epic belch again echoed throughout the arena, although it didn't smell as bad as the one from the last section.

Standing straight, Raiden was about to grab Watari and throw him from the arena when he stopped himself. Lying on the canvas was not Watari but a now very smelly log. The wrestler looked around for Watari.

Suddenly, Raiden felt a sharp blow to the back of the head, making him stagger forward, towards the gap in the arena.

Watari quickly slammed his foot against Raiden's back again. This kick was too much for the large wrestle to handle. Raiden tumbled off the edge, through the gap and into the elimination portal.

Watari looked down at the wooden log on the ground and kicked it off the edge to rid the arena of the smell.

Raiden, in the meantime, landed in the node of Looney Tunes. In fact, he landed on a very familiar black duck.

Daffy Duck crawled out from underneath Raiden and glared at him. "You dethpicable…Wrethler! How could you jutht land on a thtar like me? I haff tha power ta thue you, ya know! And furthermore-"

Daffy was cut off by Watari's teleportation log landing directly on his head.

Raiden decided that he had seen stranger things in his life and laid down to take a nap.

Back in the arena, Brad Burns was successfully fighting Athena, showing an amazing amount of skill for a Thai fighter.

"Psycho Ball!"

"Ack!"

Okay, maybe not. He was doing terrible because he didn't have any projectiles to counter Athena's psychic power. Brad dodged the Psycho Ball and attempted to run at Athena to strike.

Athena, however, saw this coming and performed another Phoenix Arrow, leaping into the air and diving straight into Brad's face. As Brad staggered back, Athena sent out another Psycho Ball, firing the kickboxer back several feet.

Brad staggered to his feet. "This is cheap!" He said. "You keep doing the same moves on me!"

"I'm sorry, but I just need to stay in the ring." Athena said.

"So you resort to cheap tactics?" Brad challenged as he ran forward.

Athena didn't answer. She simply teleported behind Brad and kicked him in the back, knocking him to the ground. As Brad started to get up, Athena leapt into the air and did another Phoenix Arrow, striking him before he could get up. Athena then grabbed Brad using her Psycho power and picked him up, despite him being a lot heavier than she was.

Using a lot of her remaining strength, Athena spun Brad around a few times and let go, sending him out of the arena.

Brad landed in Sonic Adventure. In fact, he landed directly on top of a beach chair sitting alongside the hotel pool in Station Square. Brad looked around, shrugged, put on his shades and relaxed.

Back in the arena, Athena breathed heavily. "Whew. I finally got him." Athena said as she turned around to start another fight.

However, once she turned around, she saw Geddoe standing in front of her, a stern expression on his face. "What?" Athena asked.

"Although you DID eliminate him, I must agree that you resorted to cheap tactics." Geddoe replied, his expression unchanging.

"But I'm being weighed down by fatigue!" Athena insisted. "What else am I supposed to do?"

Geddoe pointed behind himself. "I don't see Bruce Irvin or Watari using any cheap tactics and they've been in the ring as long as you have."

Athena put up her fists and prepared to take the long-haired mercenary on. "Looks like I have to take you out too."

The young Psycho Soldier launched a Psycho Ball at Geddoe, which the mercenary quickly and easily parried with his sword. "You'll have to do better than that." Geddoe said.

Athena tried teleporting behind Geddoe to take him down that way. The black-haired man, however, was anticipating this. Doing a backhanded slap, Geddoe struck Athena in the face just as she appeared behind him. Geddoe continued by grabbing Athena and shoving her into the canvas and charging his True Lightning Rune.

The young girl stood, only to feel the full effect of a lightning bolt. Athena staggered back, towards the gap in the arena.

Geddoe grabbed Athena by the collar of her outfit and held her two feet off the ground. He stood in silence for a few seconds before sighing.

"I just can't punch a woman." Geddoe said. "So I'll do the next best thing to eliminated you."

With that, Geddoe released Athena over the gap in the arena and watched as she fell downwards into elimination.

Athena fell a long ways before crashing into a pool. Brad Burns, sitting on a chair to the side, lifted his shades and smirked.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is." Brad chuckled.

"Uh…A little help here, Mr. Burns?" Athena said from the pool. "The water's pretty cold."

Brad wondered if he should actually help the girl that used cheap tactics to eliminate him, then smirked. "Sure thing. I'll grab the first thing I see and throw it in the pool for you to grab."

Athena nodded, thankful that Brad decided to help her.

Unfortunately for Athena, the first thing Brad saw was Doctor Eggman.

The resulting tidal wave sent Athena not only out of the pool, but clear into the beach, where she landed headfirst into the sand.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

"Ouch." Conan winced. "That looked like it hurt."

"Looks like Brad got the last laugh after all." Pai Chan shrugged.

However, as it turned out, those two fighters were the only ones in the Eliminated Seating to actually be watching the monitors. Everyone else was watching a battle in their section between two very distinctive fighters.

"Stand still, darn it!" Ash shouted as he ignited his fist in green flames and thrust it at his opponent.

"I'm a-Wario!" Gadget Z replied with a strange, Italian accent as he rolled out of the way. "I'm a-gonna win!"

"Not likely!" Ash growled as he prepared another attack. "I'm a far more superior fighter than you!"

"At least Gadget Z was responsible for an elimination!" Cammy White shouted from somewhere in the crowd of eliminated fighters. Almost everyone else cheered her on, agreeing with her.

Ash turned to Cammy, the one who had eliminated him, and pointed his finger at her. "Shut up, missy!" He threatened. "You're next!"

That distraction proved to be a setback for Ash. Gadget Z slammed his bolt-shaped hammer into the side of his face, knocking the prettyboy down several of the stairs in the Elimination Seating.

Gadget Z then said something in a high-pitched voice, and not a lot of the fighters knew what he had said because it was in Japanese. What he had actually said translated into 'Don't hold anything back!'. (In the ring, Asuka Kazama recognized the voice as hers and looked around, wondering if she was hearing things)

Ash growled as he jumped to his feet. "I have no idea what you just said, but I'm betting that it was something insulting!" In anger, Ash lunged at Gadget Z again, preparing to turn the small, wooden robot to ashes.

However, Gadget Z saw him coming and pulled his hammer into the air and slammed it down hard, spiking Ash straight into the floor. "PEGGI'S WEAPONS ARE PHAT!" He screamed loudly, imitating his lizard nodal companion perfectly. He then looked down at Ash and started talking in a voice that sounded amazingly similar to Lucky Glauber. "Wake up! It's too early for bedtime!"

The white-haired prettyboy staggered to his feet at glared at the malfunctioning robot. "Alright, that does it." He seethed. "I'm going to take you down once and for all, to bucket of bolts."

Gadget Z scratched his head. "Sounds funny coming from a guy in a green wig." He muttered.

Ash's left eye started twitching at Gadget Z's last remark. By now, he had lost his last shred of sanity. "WIG? WIG? THIS ISN'T A WIG!" He screamed. "IT ISN'T EVEN GREEN!" He picked up Gadget Z and looked him in the eyes. "DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A WIG TO YOU? HUH?" He narrowed his eyes. "LAST CHANCE! GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

"LAST CHANCE!" Gadget Z shouted back. "GET A BREATH MINT!"

Gadget Z slammed his face into Ash's forehead, making the prettyboy let go of him. Gadget Z swung his hammer again, striking Ash in the foot. As Ash gripped his foot in pain, Gadget Z slammed his hammer into his back, sending Ash flying towards the exit door leading out of the Eliminated Seating.

Ash stood up and saw that he was by the exit door. He looked back at Gadget Z. "You've won this round, pal." He said. "However, I'll have the last laugh. I always do."

With that, Ash turned around and ran out of the section, just as Vivian showed up, having just showed back up in the recovery room. The Shadow Siren scratched her head. "What's with him?"

Jin Chonrei saw her and motioned her to come over, knowing that she was a fighter that it was safe for him to tell about this evil force he felt. "Miss Vivian, come over here!"

**(The Arena) **

Moriya Minakata lashed out with his sword again, hoping to do some more damage to his current opponent, Heavy D!. The tall boxer had taking a bit of a beating from the long-haired swordsman. His jacket was ripped in a couple of places and he had a cut on his left cheek, but he was otherwise unharmed.

Moriya kept his guard up as D! put up his fists again. "You're a stubborn fellow, aren't you?" He asked. "Don't you realize that someone that fists with their fists can't win against someone with a sword?"

D! smirked. "You're just feeling a little cocky because you managed to land a spot in NGBC." He said. "I can still take you on."

"Are you feeling upset that you and your team still haven't been brought back into KOF or any crossover games?" Moriya challenged as he lashed at D! again. The boxer sidestepped. "Face it. You three are completely washed up."

D!'s smirk instantly vanished. "Washed up? I'll show you washed up!"

The tall boxer performed an R.S.D., nailing Moriya in the face several times. The purple-haired man recovered quickly and lashed out his sword again. D! dodged, but not without getting his jacket clipped again.

D! recovered and lashed out his fist, sending several energy streaks at Moriya. The long-haired man felt the full effect of the attack and was sent flying clear over the gap. Moriya landed on his back on the other piece of the arena (and almost crushing Yoshi), then quickly jumped to his feet and watched his opponent jump over the gap and land safely on his feet.

"Okay." Moriya sighed. "So I underestimated you. So what? You're still going to have a rough time taking me out."

Heavy D! banged his fists together. "I think not!" He said as he put up his fists and charged forward.

Moriya was anticipating this and lashed out his sword again, hoping to damage the boxer enough to throw him from the arena.

However, the laugh was on him. D! was also anticipating this and dodged to the side as he ran. He quickly approached Moriya, grabbed him and threw him high into the air.

As Moriya was in the air, he looked around, unbelieving of how high Heavy D! had thrown him. He was at least twenty feet in the air, and could see everyone in the stands all the way to the back row. Looking at the Eliminated Fighters Section as he started falling towards the canvas again, he saw Okina sighing and shaking his head, as if he knew exactly what was going to happen. Amano was gone from the section completely.

Meanwhile, D! was standing directly underneath the falling Moriya. Just as the purple-haired man came close to the canvas, Heavy D! took action. Slamming his fist into the ground, D! performed a powerful Soul Flower, creating a small explosion of energy. This blasted Moriya up again and over the ropes of the arena. Moriya could do nothing as he fell straight into the portal.

Moriya landed in Star Fox 64. In fact, he landed on Fortuna, during Star Fox's first battle with Star Wolf. The purple-haired man scratched his head in confusion.

"UNCLE ANDROSS!" A terrified scream pierced through the battle.

Looking up, Moriya saw the Wolfen of Andrew Oikonney, a member of Star Wolf, spiraling out of control towards him.

"Oh, crap." Moriya said quietly.

Back in the arena, Reed was doing battle with Asuka Kazama. Although he was really kicking himself for fighting an unarmed girl, Reed was noticing that Asuka was really holding her own in the battle.

"You are doing amazingly well, Miss Kazama." Reed complimented. "I was really starting to worry that I would hurt you."

"Not to worry." Asuka chuckled. "Yoshimitsu fights with a sword. I'm used to it."

A light went on inside Reed's head as he dodged a hard kick from Asuka. She could prove to be an excellent addition to Dan's team.

"Miss Kazama?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sure you've heard of Dan Hibiki, am I right?" Reed asked.

Asuka thought for a second, then nodded. "The guy in the pink? Yeah, I believe so."

"Well, before I entered the arena, he and a friend of his came upon some sort of plot being brewed by some of the villains here." Reed explained.

"Really?" Asuka asked as she stopped fighting. "That probably means that Heihachi's in on it somehow."

"I think we should continue fighting as we talk, Miss Kazama." Reed said. "It'll be less suspicious."

"You're quite right, sir." Asuka nodded as the two continued their battle, although it was a mock battle. "Now, have you found out what this plot is about yet?"

Reed nodded as he lashed out his sword, purposefully missing Asuka. "It's some sort of kidnapping plot." He explained. "Unfortunately, we have absolutely no idea on whom the targets are."

Asuka gasped as she thrust his fist out, which Reed easily blocked. "A kidnapping plot?" She asked, trying to keep quiet.

"Yes." Reed said. He looked around a few times. "Now, I'd like you to eliminate me so I can get back to the others."

"Are you kidding?" Asuka asked. "I'M the one that needs to get out there! You need to stay in the arena and get more help!"

"Well, why can't you do that?"

"I feel that I can be of more service outside of the arena than inside." Asuka explained. "Now, I just need you to throw me from the arena."

Reed sighed, realizing that Asuka wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. "Okay. Just remember to keep an eye open for Dan Hibiki."

Asuka nodded. "Got it."

The blonde soldier of Tinto grabbed Asuka by her jacket and vaulted her over the ropes, sending her into the elimination portal.

Reed sighed. "I really hate myself for doing that." With that, Reed turned around and ran off to try and get more help.

Asuka landed on a cold, concrete street. Getting up and dusting herself off, she looked around, seeing that she was in a strange city. Suddenly, a yellow convertible taxi pulled up to Asuka and the green-haired driver flashed a smile at her.

"Need a lift, baby?" Axel asked.

Asuka scratched her head, shrugged and got into the backseat. As soon as she was inside the taxi, Axel floored the gas, making the cab take off with breakneck speeds.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

Unknown1 stared at the monitor in confusion. "…Huh?"

"It's the Crazy Taxi node." SSBFreak explained.

"Oh. Crazy Taxi, huh?"

"Yep. Let's just say that with all the crazy stunts Axel pulls during his trips, Asuka's going to be kissing the ground when she gets out of the cab."

**(Hotel; Lobby) **

Dan Hibiki, Rainbow Mika and Samus of the Suikoden node walked into the Hotel lobby, wondering where they should go to look for information on this kidnapping plot. They were currently not having very much luck, and were starting to run out of ideas on where to go.

"Well, there was nothing in the Lounge." Mika sighed. Something suddenly hit her mind. "Although it DID look like a battle had taken place there."

Dan nodded. "How about we spend another five minutes in the Hotel. If we don't find anything by then, we'll start searching the Dome."

"Sounds good to me." Samus replied.

Suddenly, Mika saw something out of the corner of her eye. Looking towards the elevator, she saw a red mutant-like figure sneak over to the elevator, look around and press a button.

"Hey, I don't recognize that guy over there." Mika pointed.

Dan and Samus looked just in time to see the figure vanish into the elevator. "Hey! That was Carnage!" Dan exclaimed. "He's from the Marvel node, but I didn't see him come with the others!"

Samus nodded. "It looks like we've found something, then." He stated. "Come on. Let's see what floor he's heading to."

The trio walked over to the elevator and looked at the number count above the door. The watched the numbers rise before stopping at 30.

"Looks like the thirtieth floor is the what we're after." Dan said.

"We'd better take the stairs." Mika suggested. "If we wait for the elevator, we might take too long."

"You're right, Mika. Let's go!" Dan said as he led Mika and Samus towards the door leading to the stairs.

**(The Arena) **

Captain Kidd lashed out his fist at Ukyo Tachibana, performing his Pirate Ship Punch. Ukyo, however, saw the ghostly image of the ship coming at him and dodged to the side. The blue-haired man quickly lashed out with his sword, barely missing the pirate captain as Kidd leaned to his left.

"Are you sure you're alright, man?" Kidd asked as he watched Ukyo stop fighting to let out several good coughs. "You really shouldn't be fighting if you're sick."

"*cough* I'm *hack* *hack* Fine. Really." Ukyo said.

"I'm not really buying that, pal." Kidd said as he lunged forward with his foot, performing his Shark Kick again. Ukyo quickly parried the blow with his sword.

The main reason Kidd was fighting Ukyo was that he wished to get him out of the arena quickly so he could get medical help from the doctors in the Recovery Room. However, Ukyo wasn't really letting him do so. In fact, because Kidd was weighed down by fatigue a little, Uyko was actually getting the upper hand.

Kidd thrust his fist at Ukyo's stomach, hoping to stun him long enough to throw him from the arena. However, Ukyo blocked that, too. The blue-haired man quickly retaliated with a hard slash with his sword, making Kidd stagger back.

"Sorry about *cough* That. But I must *hack* *hack* Eliminate you now." Ukyo said, covering his mouth with his hand every time he coughed.

"No, I should be sorry." Kidd said. "I need to eliminate you so you can get medical attention."

"There's no *hack!* cure for my disease." Ukyo said simply as he rushed at Kidd, preparing to deliver the final blow.

Kidd was unprepared for the attack. Ukyo threw an apple at him, then lunged forward and slashed multiple times. The attack not only diced the apple into several even slices, but it sent Kidd out of the ring as well. Ukyo took a moment to catch his breath before turning and running off to find another opponent.

Kidd, in the meantime, landed in Suikoden 4, on one of the battleships in the midst of a battle. Once Kidd figured out how the Rune Cannons worked, the enemy was defeated in a matter of minutes.

**(Hotel; Bison's Room) **

"Psycho Crusher!" Bison shouted as he lunged at Geese Howard, engulfed in blue energy.

Geese, on the other hand, saw this coming and stepped aside, allowing Bison to drive himself into the wall. As Bison was in the middle of his move, Geese slammed his fist straight down onto the dictator's back, sending him into the floor.

Bison slowly stood up and growled. "You're starting to become annoying, Geese." He said. "All this could have been avoided if you had chosen to stick on our side."

The blonde man shook his head. "I've told you! I can't betray Billy after all he's done for me!" He roared. "I won't let you take his sister!"

"Suit yourself." Bison said as he thrust his fist forward, firing a ball of dark psycho energy at Geese. Geese quickly leapt over the projectile and landed his foot against Bison's chin.

As soon as Geese was on the ground, Bison took action. Sliding forward on his feet, the dictator knocked the Southtown crimeboss off his feet. As Geese stood up, Bison continued with a flip kick, nailing the top of Geese's head with his feet. Geese, although his head hurt, grabbed Bison, lifted him into the air and slammed him into the floor with all his might. Bison stood up, showing several cracks in the floor.

"Do you realize how much it's going to cost to fix that floor?" Bison asked.

Geese didn't answer. He simply waited as Bison charged forward. At the last second before Bison's shoulder connected with his face, Geese lifted his hand.

Bison realized all too late what Geese had planned. The next thing he knew, he was lifted off the ground, thrown over Geese's shoulder and was thrown headfirst into the wall.

Rubbing his chin, Bison got back to his feet and stared at Geese. "I guess I should have seen that one coming, Howard." Bison said. "I'm starting to let my guard down."

"All the easier for me." Geese replied with a smirk.

"Unfortunately, you cannot win against me." Bison added confidently. "I have far more skill than you do."

Geese narrowed his eyes. "We'll see about that."

The two charged each other again, each of them preparing to deliver their most powerful attack.

"Ultimate Psycho Crusher!" Bison shouted as he flew forward in a huge burst of energy.

Geese froze in his place and raised his hands into the air. "Raging…"

Bison suddenly realized what Geese was about to do and tried to stop himself from attacking. Unfortunately, it was already too late.

"…**STORM!" **

Geese slammed his palms into the ground, creating a tower of energy around him. Bison flew headfirst into the attack, not only canceling out the Ultimate Psycho Crusher, but damaging Bison to the point where he could barely stand. When the attack finished, Bison flew back several feet before landing on his back.

The Southtown crime boss stood over the defeated body of Bison and folded his arms. "It seems like I have won, Bison." Geese said simply. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to warn Billy about this."

Before Geese could turn around to leave the room, something slammed into the back of his head, making him collapse. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

Bison chuckled as he stood up. "Good job, Vega." He said to the person who had just knocked Geese out.

Vega lowered his fist and nodded. "Thank you, sir. I apologize for not assisting sooner, but he had knocked me out for a while there."

"You're forgiven." Bison smirked evilly as he looked down at Geese's unconscious form. "It looks like we'll have to make Geese want to help us again."

**(Dome; Hallways) **

Another basketball bounced off Setsuna's head, making the dark assassin stagger back. Setsuna's eyes narrowed at the tall basketball player that was currently fighting him. "You'll pay for that one, scum." Setsuna spat.

Lucky Glauber smirked as he caught another basketball (where it had come from, Setsuna still hadn't figured out) and started dribbling it. "If you're going to make me pay, why don't you try a little harder?" he taunted. "I'm barely working up a sweat here!"

Setsuna growled at the insult. "I'll kill you for that!" He roared as he lunged forward and prepared to deliver a fatal slash to the tall man's chest.

The dark man lashed out his sword, but only hit air. He looked around for his target before he felt Lucky's leg hit his back. Lucky, as it turned out, had used a Lucky Vision and 'teleported' behind the assassin. Setsuna spun around just in time to see Lucky's fist flying at his face.

Lucky punched Setsuna with enough power to send the assassin into the hallway wall. Setsuna lunged at Lucky again and slashed at him. The basketball player leapt overtop of the blade of steel and decided to add something else, delivering a Cyclone Break to Setsuna's head, knocking the dark man to the ground.

Before Setsuna got to his feet, Lucky did a sweep kick, knocking the assassin back a couple more feet. Setsuna leapt to his feet and charged forward thrusting his sword out, preparing to run Lucky through. Luckily for Lucky (sorry, I couldn't resist), he saw the attack coming and leaned to the side as the sword passed beside him.

Lucky leapt back several feet and caught another basketball. Performing a Death Shoot, Lucky leapt into the air and tossed the basketball at Setsuna, hitting him in the head again. The basketball player used Setsuna's stunned state to his advantage and charged forward. Doing another Lucky Vision, Lucky zoomed past Setsuna just as the dark assassin snapped out of his daze. Appearing behind Setsuna, Lucky did another sweep kick, knocking him off his feet. While the dark man was still on the ground, Lucky leapt back and did a Death Dunk, leaping into the air and hurling another basketball downwards, straight into Setsuna's stomach

"This is nothing!" Lucky laughed. "No wonder you guys from the Last Blade node haven't been having a good run so far in the tournament!"

Setsuna leapt to his feet and snarled. "You've got more experience than I gave you credit for, I'll give you that." He raised his sword again. "However, the only reason you're still alive is because you keep catching me off guard."

Actually, the real reason was because Setsuna had no experience fighting against basketballs and people with Lucky's techniques, but he wasn't about to tell that to Lucky.

"_I need to finish this now!"_ Lucky thought. _"If I don't hurry and catch up to Ryoko and Bridget, something may happen to them!" _

Lucky raised his hand into the air and caught another basketball.

Setsuna smirked. "That won't work this time, basketball player." He chuckled vilely. "I know what you planning."

Lucky, to Setsuna's surprise, smirked back, only slyly. "Do you, now?"

The taller man charged forward and pulled his fist, holding the basketball, back and into the air.

"HELLBOUND!" Lucky shouted, slamming the basketball into the ground with as much strength as he could muster. A tall pillar of orange energy shot from the ground where the basketball had hit, catching Setsuna completely off guard. Sure, the pillar vanished one second later, but it didn't matter. The damage was done. Setsuna flew into the air, hit his head on a light hanging from the ceiling and fell back down to the ground, utterly defeated. His last thought before blacking out was how much trouble he'd be in for losing.

Lucky stood tall, victorious. Turning around, Lucky charged off down the hallway, hoping to catch up with Bridget and Ryoko.

**(The Arena) **

Yoshi fluttered into the air, overtop of Bruce Irvin. Spinning in midair, Yoshi piledrived himself into the ground, landed directly on top of Bruce's head, sending the black kickboxer to the ground. Bruce staggered to his feet, only to be hit with a Coinbox Jump from Mario.

Ever since Yoshi had stepped into the arena, Bruce had been double-teamed by both Mario and the green dinosaur. He was trying to at least get one of them away from the other so he could at least eliminate one of them.

Mario thrust his palm out, firing a ball of red flames from his hand. Bruce saw this coming and easily sidestepped the fireball. He then sent his knee flying into Yoshi's face. As Yoshi stepped back a couple of steps, Bruce grabbed him and threw him over the ropes. He sighed. "Well, that's one down." He turned around to continue the fight with Mario, unaware that Yoshi was doing a flutter jump, approaching the arena again to go back in.

Bruce shoved his fist out, catching Mario in the face. Mario quickly recovered and saw that Bruce was about to attack again. The portly plumber lashed out his yellow cape, attacking Bruce, spinning him in place. When Bruce actually attacked, he saw that he was no longer facing Mario. The short plumber took this opportunity to leap into the air and slam his fist into the back of Bruce's head. In the meantime, Yoshi had managed to climb back into the arena

Mario shoved his hand out again, striking Bruce in the stomach. Bruce landed on his back, rolled to the side and stood up. He quickly grabbed Mario and, without giving him a chance to attack, threw him over the gap in the arena, making Mario collide with Maxi.

When Bruce turned around to start another fight, he saw Yoshi standing there, looking up at him angrily. Despite being a little surprised at how Yoshi could be back in the arena after being thrown out.

"Yoshi!" The green dinosaur shouted. "Yoshi! Yosh-Yoshi!"

Pulling a white egg with green spots out from behind his back, Yoshi leaned back and threw it at Bruce. The egg hit Bruce in the forehead and shattered into a million pieces. Yoshi, feeling confident, turned himself into an egg and rolled forward, preparing to run Bruce over.

Bruce, however, saw Yoshi coming and took action. Reaching out, Bruce grabbed the egg containing Yoshi and threw it over the ropes. Because he was still inside the egg, Yoshi couldn't flutter jump back in.

Yoshi, still inside the egg, landed in Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg. Chick Poacher saw the white egg, scratched his head, shrugged and started pushing it around, hoping to see what would hatch.

After Bruce had thrown him over the gap in the arena, Mario had continued his time in the arena fighting against Maxi, the latest Mystery Fighter. The Elvis-lookalike was definitely holding his own against the gaming giant, using his nunchucks to attack amazingly quickly.

"You're a-not a-bad." Mario said as he launched a fireball at his opponent.

Maxi spun his nunchucks, striking the fireball and canceling it out. "Thanks. I've had lots of practice." He replied.

"Unfortunately, you are a-facing against a-one of the a-biggest names in a-gaming here." Mario added. "You're a-chances aren't a-very good."

"Well, I'm fresher than you are." Maxi replied. "That gives me a slight advantage here."

Mario thought about this and realized that Maxi was right. Mario had already been in the ring a little bit (sure, it wasn't as long as Bruce or Watari, but still…) while Maxi was almost a newcomer.

The portly plumber did his well-known one-two punch, attacking Maxi with two quick punches, then finished it off with a kick, knocking Maxi back a little bit.

"He's a-right." Mario muttered to himself as he ran forward. "I'm a-weighed down by a little a-fatigue. If I don't a-do something a-fast, he'll a-beat me."

Mario leapt into the air and struck Maxi in the face with his foot. As Maxi stood there, stunned, Mario landed on the ground and grabbed his legs. The portly plumber started spinning in place, taking Maxi with him.

"SO A-LONG!" Mario shouted as he finally let go of Maxi, sending the black-haired man completely out of the arena.

Maxi landed in some sort of diner. Getting up, he looked around as 60's rock music played through the jukebox. Maxi walked over to a table and grabbed a menu.

Nearby, a very familiar man in a leather jacket saw the newcomer and stuck his thumb in the air. "_Eeeeeeeeyyyyyy_. Great hair, man." He said.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

"So that's pretty much it." Chonrei said.

After Vivian had arrived, Chonrei had told her about this strange and evil presence he had felt. After Chonrei had finished, the Shadow Siren stared at him in shock.

"You think something may be going on?" Vivian asked.

Chonrei nodded. "Yes. Mr. Hyo Amano already left here to find some sort of psychics to find out if my suspicion is correct."

Vivian nodded, then suddenly realized something. "You think Ash Crimson may have something to do with it? He left the Elimination Seating in a hurry."

"I wouldn't be surprised in the least if he was." Chonrei replied. He stood up. "I say we go and try to find Amano and see if we can figure out more."

"I'm with you."

**(The Arena) **

Heavy D! coughed as purple smoke flew in his face. Nightcrawler, the boxer's opponent, had vanished yet again, and appeared behind the tall man. The German mutant delivered a hard kick, knocking D! forward. Heavy D! spun in place and thrust his fist out blindly, hoping to strike the mutant man. The boxer's sudden movement caught Nightcrawler off guard and the fist struck his face, making him slightly recoil.

Nightcrawler shook off the effects of the punch just in time to see D! lunging at him, doing an R.S.D. The German man leapt into the air and landed directly on top of the boxer's shoulder. Nightcrawler continued by flipping himself off the boxer, making D! do a front flip himself before landing on his back.

The tall boxer stood to his feet. "Pretty good move there, buddy." D! complimented. "I can see why you already got an elimination."

Nightcrawler, slightly surprised that D! wasn't freaked out at his appearance, nodded. "Vell, zank you, comrade." He said. "I neever vould have expeected zuch a compleement from a normal human."

"You kidding?" D! asked. "Half the people from my node can do things that make them seem unusual, but no one seems to care."

Nightcrawler stood in shock. Was there really such a place where humans could co-exist with mutants? "Really?"

D! nodded, then suddenly remembered the plot he had been put up against. "Say, buddy? You have a name?" He thrust his fist at Nightcrawler, missing on purpose.

"Vagner. Kurt Vagner." Nightcrawler replied humbly. "But I am alzo called ze incredible Nightcrawler."

D! nodded again. "Look, I head that you were part of the X-Men and they're fighters on the side of good."

"Yes."

"Well, I've sorta come across an evil plot and my friends and I could use some extra help." D! rubbed the back of his head. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in helping."

Nightcrawler quickly came to his decision and nodded. "I vould be honoured if I could do zuch a theeng."

"Okay. I need to eliminate you so you can find my friends."

Noghtcrawler nodded. "Go ahead. Zees violent tournament ees not for me, anyvay."

D! nodded. "Look for my best friend. He's a real tall basketball player named Lucky Glauber."

"Not a problem."

With that, D! did a light R.S.D., knocking the blue-skinned man over the ropes. Nightcrawler feigned tiredness so he wouldn't have to teleport back into the arena.

Nightcrawler landed in Mario Party 6, where he, Toad, Boo and Toadette outsmarted several cheesy 'Koopa Kids' at their own games.

Back in the arena, two armed men, one ninja and one samurai, were dueling with their respective swords. Watari lunged forward and clashed swords with Ukyo, causing several sparks to fly from the weapons.

Ukyo lunged forward in an attempt to slice Watari in half, but only succeeded in splitted a log in half instead. Watari materialized behind Ukyo and thrust his foot into the blue-haired man's back.

The samurai spun in place and lashed out his sword, but Watari saw this coming and leapt back, throwing two ninja stars. Ukyo, coughing, quickly attacked them with his sword, slicing them in half as well.

Watari used this distraction to his advantage and ran forward.

Ukyo smirked slyly. "It'll take more *cough* *cough* than that to *hack* *cough* take me out. *HACK*"

While Watari was running at him headfirst, Ukyo threw an apple at him, then lunged forward. The white-haired ninja also saw this coming and leapt high into the air, leaving Ukyo to slice the apple in thin air.

"Take this!" Watari shouted as he planted his foot into the square of Ukyo's back, knocking the blue-haired man to the ground.

"Impossible. *cough* I can't be *hack* *hack* be defeated so soon…" Ukyo wheezed.

"Believe it." Watari said as he grabbed Ukyo by the back of his outfit, lifted him into the air and threw him over the ropes, into elimination.

Ukyo landed in Bubsy: Claws Encountered of the Furred Kind. He quickly aided Bubsy in destroying a Woolie UFO. The Woolies later decided never to mess with someone with a sword again.

In the arena, Watari exhaled as he turned around. There were now only seven people in the ring, with himself being one of them. Chang Koehan was currently having a friendly duel with Geddoe, as Reed was more the less playing defensive against Bruce Irvin. Heavy D! was sitting on the canvas, recovering from his fight with Nightcrawler. Watari quickly saw a very familiar portly plumber running over to start a fight with him.

However, before Watari could move, he, along with everyone else, heard two very loud laughs coming from above the arena, signaling another arena alteration.

**RESULTS**

GEDDOE (S3)

HEAVY D! (KOF)

WATARI (S3)

BRUCE IRVIN (T5)

MARIO MARIO (SSB)

REED (S3)

CHANG KOEHAN (KOF)

**(ELIMINATED)**

UKYO TACHIBANA (SS)

NIGHTCRAWLER (MC)

ATHENA ASAMIYA (KOF)

RAIDEN (FF)

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (StH)

CAPTAIN KIDD (WH)

ASUKA KAZAMA (T5)

MORIYA MINAKATA (LB)

BRAD BURNS (VF)

MAXI (SC3)

YOSHI (SSB)

BALROG (SFA3)

LILLY PENDRAGON (S3)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Ninja Masters" **

EIJI KISARAGI (KOF 95) _**shows his ninja skillz against**_ GOZU and MEZU (KE)

"**Revenge of the Prettyboy" **

GADGET Z (S3) _**annoys**_ ASH CRIMSON (KOF)

"**Geese's Redemption" **

M. BISON (SFA3) _**takes down**_ GEESE HOWARD (FF) (with a little help from Vega)

"**White Men Can't Fight"**

LUCKY GLAUBER (KOF) _**slam-dunks**_ SETSUNA (LB)

Eliminations: Geddoe, D! and Watari, 2; Bruce, Mario, Reed, Chang, Ukyo, Nightcrawler and Athena, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: Jubei Yagyu (4), Bruce Irvin (4), Athena Asamiya (4), Watari (4), Mario Mario (3)

**It's a Surprise to Us All:** Watari, so far, is Suikoden 3's heavy hitter. Sure, Geddoe and Reed each have two, but they still have a bit to go.

**An Explanation Needed:** Maxi landed in the Happy Days node and the guy in the leather jacket is Fonzie.

**Research, It Does You Good:** After some research, I found that Guzu and Mezu controlled fire and water respectively. (I had never played the game before) This gives me a good idea for a sidestory here concerning good ol' Eiji.


	12. Section Five

**(The Arena) **

The seven guys in the arena watched as Master Hand and Crazy hand laughed and started floating around above the ring. None of them wanted to move just in case something happened. Everyone quickly realized that the two pieces of the arena joined back together, eliminating the gap in between.

Suddenly, both hands flew underneath the arena. Before anyone could react, a good sized square of the canvas elevated about two feet, taking the fighters on it, Watari and Mario, up above the ropes. Another portion of the arena was also lifted on the other side of the arena, lifting Heavy D! up above the ropes as well.

As both hands floated back out from under the arena, everyone heard the usual announcement from the hosts.

"Folks, as you can see, two parts of the arena are now actually ABOVE the ropes!" SSBFreak's voice came through the speakers. "Because of this, people on those platforms only need to be pushed off the edge to get eliminated!"

By now, everyone in the arena knew what was coming next. Looking at the entryway, everyone waited for the next fighter to come out.

"**KING!" (KOF) **

The female bartender came out from behind the curtain and tightened the gloves on her hands as the crowd cheered wildly. King waved to her little brother Jan in the crowd before running headfirst down to the ring.

Leaping into the arena, King's first goal was to try and get Chang Koehan to snap out of his daze in thinking that he was a superhero.

Bruce Irvin, one of the two longest-running fighters so far, saw her and walked over. "You're a Thai fighter, aren't you, ma'am?" He asked.

"I am." King nodded. "Say, you've been doing amazing in the arena so far and I think that you make the name of Maui Thai proud."

"Thanks. Hey, how about a fight?" Bruce asked. "I think that you could definitely hold your own."

King smirked and put up her fists. "You're on."

"**HAYATE!" (KE) **

"At long last, the second Kizuna Encounter warrior has entered the arena." SSBFreak said. "Let's just hope that he makes up for Max Eagle's performance in Section One."

To a mixed crowd reaction, Hayate stood straight and walked down to the arena. On the outside, he looked calm and confident, but on the inside, he was a complete and nervous wreck. Max Eagle hadn't done very well and the chances of anyone else from the Kizuna Encounter node getting an elimination were pretty slim.

Still, Hayate decided to give it all he had. Leaping into the arena, Hayate ran at the first person he saw, Reed, and lashed out his sword.

Without looking, Reed pulled his sword back and blocked the attack. The blonde man looked over his shoulder and glared at Hayate, who quickly realized that he made a dumb decision and ran off.

"**JANNE!" (WH) **

Brandishing her sword, Janne confidently walked down to the ring. She was definitely one of the more popular characters in the World Heroes gang, and she figured that she could at least get ONE elimination.

Janne leapt into the arena and decided to help Watari with Mario. With one slash of her sword, the portly plumber was sent flying across the arena.

Watari sighed in relief. "Thanks for the help" He said. "I don't know how long I could have lasted against him."

"No a problem." Janne chuckled. "I always prefer to assist those that have proven their strength. You and Mr. Irvin are currently the only ones who fit the bill."

"I appreciate the compliment." Watari said. "But now, I must find another person to eliminate."

"I shall aid you, dear sir." The Frenchwoman offered.

After pondering this, Watari nodded. "Okay. Thanks in advance."

**(Dome; Main Hallway) **

Two very distinctive figures walked down the hallway, towards the doors leading to the hotel. One was completely black/dark blue from head to toe and had a set of razor sharp teeth with a long, green tongue hanging out. The other had a full head of hair, a half blindfold over his right eye and a pair of wings sprouting from his back. He also held a scythe in his hands. Both figures were laughing hard as they had a friendly conversation.

These two were Venom (of the Marvel node) and Landis (of the Suikoden 3 node). After annoying the rest of his nodal companions when he saw Vivian encounter the Grim Reaper after getting eliminated, Landis was ejected from the Locker Room until he calmed himself down. After walking for a little bit, he encountered Venom, and the two became fast friends.

"And so the guy says 'Yeah, but you should see the OTHER truck'!" Venom finished his joke.

Landis let out a loud, hearty 'Yuh-Huh-Huh!' and turned to his new friend. "The Grim Reaper is pleased that he found such a friend!" He said. "You are a lot like the Grim Reaper!"

"We are glad to have met you, Landis." Venom laughed. "We have spent so long without having any real friends. People just see us, scream and run."

"The Reaper knows how you feel." Landis patted Venom on the shoulder.

Suddenly, the two heard loud footsteps coming in their direction. Looking back, they saw a giant mountain of man and a short, green hunchback coming over, more talking to each other than looking forward. The giant man was making the loud footsteps.

"Isn't that Earthquake and Gen-An Shiranui?" Venom asked as he pointed at the two.

Landis nodded as the two thieves finally saw the new friends. Earthquake looked down at the two. "Get out of the way, small fries." He ordered. "Gen-An and I have somewhere to go."

Venom smirked. "Such as?"

"None of your business!" Gen-An shouted, pointing his claw at the two. "Quake's really upset about his performance in the ring and you do NOT want to make him angrier!"

Landis and Venom looked at each other and grinned evilly, then turned back to the two thieves.

"You two are obviously up to no good, and Landis and us want to see how well we fight together."

Landis' dark grin got darker. "The Grim Reaper comes…"

**(The Arena) **

"**BAEK DOO SAN!" (T5) **

Baek, dressed in his beige coat, pants and hat, came out from behind the curtain and looked around at the people cheering.

Like Bruce, Baek felt amazing to be back in action again. Also like Bruce, Baek hadn't been in a canon Tekken game since Tekken 2, and was itching to find some good fighters to test his rusty skill on.

Entering the arena, Baek was about to go over and help Bruce (whom Baek was amazed at how long he was lasting in the arena) against the woman in the red jacket. However, a certain overweight man who thought he was a superhero saw him first.

"Baek Doo San!" Chang Koehan greeted. "It is an honour to finally meet someone as skilled at Tae Kwon Do as you are!"

Baek nodded. "I appreciate it. I have been using the art of Tae Kwon Do most of my life and have mastered the style completely."

Chang's eyes lit up. "A challenge!" He said. "'The Koehan' is also a master at Tae Kwon Do, and wishes to challenge you to a friendly duel!"

"You're a master at Tae Kwon Do?" Baek scratched his head in confusion. "Well, I guess I can accept your challenge. The only one in my node who knows Tae Kwon Do besides me is my pupil, Hwoarang, and he can never seem to defeat me."

Chang got into a Tae Kwon Do stance and smirked. "Come on, then! Let us do this!"

"**DEE JAY MAXIMUM!" (SFA3) **

As 'Dancing in the Streets' blared through the speakers, Dee Jay came out from behind the curtain, shaking maracas. His ever-cheerful personality was definitely showing, as his huge grin was plastered on his face the entire time his walked down to the arena.

Placing a Jamaican rhythm in his head, Dee Jay leapt over the ropes of the arena and landed a kick to the back of Mario's head. As Mario stood, Dee Jay thrust his fist forward, firing an orange projectile into the plumber's face.

"Yer good, mon." Dee Jay chuckled. "But no one can stand up ta the rhythm of Dee Jay!"

Mario narrowed his eyes and threw a fireball at the Jamaican man. "We'll a-see about a-that."

**(Street Fighter Locker Room) **

"Well, he's taking on Mario." Chun-Li sighed. "Dee Jay's chances of survival just went down."

"Don't judge his skills just yet, Chun-Li." Dhalsim cut in. "He may surprise us."

"Yeah, and maybe the next person that comes out will get his theme song changed on him." Ken muttered.

**(The Arena) **

"**BORUS REDRUM!" (S3) **

The blonde knight, also called the 'Swordsman of Rage', came out from behind the curtain to a mixed reaction. His armour was exactly like that of Percival, which was expected considering the fact that the two of them were knights in the same unit.

Borus started walking down to the arena confidently, hoping that he could improve on Percival's performance.

Suddenly, a goofy, circus-like theme played by horns blared through the speakers, making Borus freeze (and making everyone in the Street Fighter Locker Room glare at Ken). Borus looked up at the sound booth in question as the W's started singing.

"_This one guy got arrested"_

"_His presence was requested" _

"_It seems he was suspected"_

"_Of breaking and stealing from vending machines"_

Borus looked around at the audience. Like with Sonic and Maxi, several members of the audience were laughing heavily.

"_Well, he swore that he was innocent"_

"_So he paid off his bail and home he went" _

"_But soon back to jail or hero was sent"_

"_Because he paid off his bail with quarters and dimes"_

Borus narrowed his eyes, his rage starting to build up. By now, a lot more people were starting to laugh. Even a couple of the fighters in the arena were chuckling.

"_Stupid! That was stupid!" _

"_No, you can't say that that was smart" _

"_Stupid! That was stupid!" _

"_Our brains must be falling apart"_

Roaring in anger, Borus charged into the arena, drew his sword and threw himself at Heavy D!.

**(Sound Booth) **

A young Karayan girl with brown hair grinned evilly as she walked away from the sound system, towards her two new friends.

"Did you guys see the look on that butchering ironhead's face?" Aila asked. "Thanks for letting me do that, guys!"

Shadow smirked. "No problem. And here I was thinking coming here wasn't going to be fun."

Astaroth laughed heartily. "I can't believe I can have so much fun doing something that doesn't involve killing people!"

Suddenly, before the trio could Chaos Control out of the room, the door to the Sound Booth flew open, revealing three armed guards.

"Freeze!"

The three intruders paused, then raised their hands.

"The bosses want to speak with you three." One of the guards said.

**(Hotel; 30th Floor) **

Seven of Bison's temporary henchmen stood in one of the larger rooms on the floor, planning their next move. The leader of the group was King Lion. However, he had an argument breaking out between two of the others.

"You mean to say that three of the security forces actually beat you guys?" Lee Chaolan asked.

Yuber nodded, the mere thought of losing to such mortals enraging him. "I'll be sure to take care of those three when we're finished here."

"I don't know about that." Lee smirked. "I mean, from what I heard, you lost every fight thrown at you in the Grasslands."

One of Yuber's twin swords shot from under his dark sleeve almost instantly. Catching the handle, the dark knight lashed out with it, stopping himself only two inches from Lee's neck. The silver-haired man remained calm, smirking.

"One more crack and I won't stop myself from slitting your throat." Yuber hissed.

Lee chuckled. "I'm your ally, Yuber. You know that you're not allowed to kill us."

Yuber snarled. As much as he hated to admit it, Lee was right. In fact, Bison had said that if Yuber killed any member of his team, he'd pay dearly.

"Stop it! Both of you!" King Lion rushed over and pushed the two of them apart. "Look, we're here just to wait for Setsuna to return and give us a report. There's no need for any of us to be at each other's throats."

However, it was almost as if the two didn't hear him. Lee kept smirking at Yuber triumphantly as the dark knight looked closer to losing his last shred of sanity. King Lion looked at the rest of his team, hoping that at least one of them would give him some support. However, he was out of luck. Carnage, a red version of Venom, looked around casually and whistled. Ripper and Hopper, Geese Howard's two bodyguards, simply stood aside, uninterested, although Hopper was fooling around with one of his knives. Finally, Birdie, the man of Shadaloo, stood there, unmoving, not really wanting to give King Lion a hand.

King Lion turned back to Lee and Yuber. "Look! It's just for a few more minutes! If you guys can keep yourselves from pestering each other, it'll be alright."

Yuber snarled and walked away from Lee. "Fine. I'll wait, but I won't like it."

Suddenly, everyone heard a knocking at the door to the room. Scratching his head, Birdie walked over to the door, twisted the doorknob and opened it, looking out into the hallway.

"Yes?"

The answer Birdie got was a hard kick to the head, making him lean back. The attacker, clad in a pink gi, flew over Birdie, still doing the flying kick. Birdie was then grabbed and thrown back into the room. When everyone looked, they saw a female wrestler and dark-skinned swordsman enter the room.

"Intruders!" King Lion raised his gloves. "How did you find us?"

Dan Hibiki smirked. "We followed your friend Carnage from the lobby." He replied.

All of the villains (except Birdie, whom was standing up) instantly turned to glare at Carnage.

"Look, they may have found us, but what chance do they have?" Yuber smirked evilly. "I mean, there's seven of us and just three of them!"

Dan, Mika and Samus suddenly realized that the villains were right. With this many opponents, they'd get worn down quickly. If only they had a little more help…

"Make that four of us!" A new voice shouted. "Criminal Upper!"

The next thing Yuber knew, he was lifted off his feet and was sent flying into the ceiling. Everyone turned in the direction of the voice and saw Cody, dressed in his prison attire, smirking slyly.

"Cody?" Dan asked.

"Heya, Dan." Cody greeted as he rushed over to stand side by side with the three 'good' fighters. "Reed told me about how you found out this plot and I decided to lend a hand."

The seven villains quickly took action. King Lion pounded his fists together, Carnage curled his fingers, Yuber summoned his other sword, Lee got into his stance, Birdie stood straight and prepared to charge, Ripper loaded his gun and Hopper pulled out a small knife.

Dan smirked. "Let's rumble!"

**(The Arena) **

"**ROUWE!" (GF) **

After Musafar managed to get an elimination, each of the Galaxy Fighters were starting to feel a little more confident about managing to survive a section. However, after Alvan got tossed out quickly, they started having second thoughts.

Rouwe, the oldest fighter in Galaxy Fight, was no exception. He was secretly hoping that at least one more person from his node would get an elimination and prove to everyone that they weren't jokes.

Reaching the arena, Rouwe leapt in and looked around for someone to eliminate. His first target was Hayate.

Rouwe smirked. "Well, someone from the Kizuna Encounter node must be easier to take out than others." He said. "Perhaps I should focus on that fellow first."

Seeing Rouwe charge him, Hayate's eyes bulged. "Crap!" He shouted as he turned and ran.

"**K'!" (KOF) **

"_Here's a chance to show you how I feel"_

"_Here's a chance for you to see it's real"_

"_To see just what I feel inside"_

"_And who it is that's by my side" _

"_I will never change my mind" _

"_Try to torch me and you'll find" _

"_You can't turn me or deter me"_

"_No matter how you try"_

"_You can't burn me"_

As Pillar's song 'Fireproof' came through the speakers, the audience went nuts as K' appeared outside of the entrance curtain, his eyes narrowed. Taking his shades off, K' put them in the pocket of his jacket before walking down the ramp, almost ignoring the pictures of him being taken or the audience screaming for autographs.

"_I know where I stand and what'll happen if you try it" _

"_I am Fireproof!"_

"_I know my heart and I just can't deny it"_

"_I am Fireproof!"_

"_I tried to tell you but you wouldn't be quiet" _

"_I am Fireproof!"_

"_I'll never bow down and you won't buy it"_

"_I am Fireproof!"_

Reaching the arena, K' ran over to the scuffle Geddoe was having with Heavy D!. Lashing out his hand, K' created a wave of fire and sent it forward to burn Geddoe to a crisp.

Luckily, Geddoe saw this coming and raised his hand, creating a shield of electricity, preventing him from harm. "Do you have some sort of issues?" The mercenary asked.

D! shook his head in hopelessness. "Man, K' has so many issues it's wise not to bother prying."

Geddoe nodded and lashed out his sword, sending K' into the battle between Mario and Dee Jay.

"**LI XIANGFEI!" (FF) **

The young, Chinese girl absent-mindedly walked out from behind the curtain, looking down at the dumpling she was carrying. Suddenly, Xiangfei looked up and saw that she was no longer in the cafeteria. Looking around, she suddenly remembered the tournament. Shoving the dumpling into her mouth, Xiangfei ran down to the ring and leapt in.

Watari and Janne saw the Chinese girl jump into the arena. Seeing that she currently didn't have an opponent, the two stopped sparring and went over to her.

"I've heard of you." Janne said. "You've been known to have a bottomless pit for a stomach."

Xiangfei smirked. "You might say that. I just really love to eat."

"And yet, with as much as you eat, you never get any fatter." Watari added.

"It's great, isn't it?" Xiangfei asked happily. "I can eat as much as I want and never get fat!"

Watari looked at Janne. "Let's continue sparring." He suggested. "This girl confuses me."

Jane nodded. "I'm with you." With that, the two walked off, leaving Xiangfei to scratch her head.

Xiangfei shrugged, pulled another dumpling from her pocket, downed it in one gulp and rushed off to help King with Bruce Irvin.

Suddenly, all of the arena spotlights went to shine on the entryway, meaning that the next Mystery Fighter was about to come out.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**FIVE**!"

The curtain was pushed aside, allowing the next fighter to come out.

"**SCORPION!" (Mortal Kombat) **

Everyone's favourite yellow-clad ninja came out from behind the curtain, his eyes fixed on the arena. The audience cheered wildly as Scorpion ran down to the ring and leapt in.

Scorpion ran about five steps before stopping and looking at the battle Geddoe and Heavy D! were still having. The yellow ninja lashed out his hand.

"**GET OVER HERE!"** The audience went nuts when Scorpion shouted that.

Scorpion's grappling hook launched towards the two fighters, aiming for D!'s back.

Geddoe saw the grappling hook coming and looked at D!. "Incoming pointed object at six o'clock."

D! turned around and saw Scorpion's grappling hook coming at him. Lashing out his fist, the boxer created several streaks of energy, which slammed into the grappling hook, knocking it off course.

Scorpion, seeing his attack getting nullified, ran at Heavy D! furiously.

**(Dome; Outside SSB Locker Room) **

Hyo Amano walked down the hallways, smiling as he approached the door to the SSB Locker Room. It took him a little bit to find it, but Amano could finally talk to Ness and Mewtwo and see what the heck was going on.

Amano was about to knock on the door when it flew open, slamming into his face. As Amano staggered back, he watched as a huge, Reptilian figure lumbered out of the Locker Room.

"I was starving, Roy!" Bowser shouted back into the room. "How was I supposed to know those were your sweat socks?"

Bowser turned around to continue walking and saw Amano getting to his feet, holding his nose. The huge Koopa raised an eyebrow. "What're you doing here, punk?" Bowser asked. He suddenly realized who it was. "Hey! Aren't you the guy that American ninja eliminated in Section One?"

"Uh…Yeah." Amano replied, a bit intimidated by Bowser's size. "Is that a…Bad thing?"

"Nah. I was just wondering." Bowser was about to lumber off when his original question sprang to mind. "Say, what ARE you doing here, anyway?"

"Uh…I'm here to speak with Ness and Mewtwo, if I could." Amano managed to say.

Bowser thought for a second, then gave his reply. "I don't think so, buddy." He smirked. "I can see right through your little ruse."

Amano stepped back. "Huh?"

"I know of you!" Bowser said. "You seem to like the ladies a lot! You're just here to try and sweet-talk Peach, aren't you?" By now, Bowser was starting to get mad.

"I-I'm not! Honest!"

"Talk to my claws, pal!" Bowser shouted. "No one gives Mario competition to win Peach's heart but ME!"

**(The Arena) **

"**NEI!" (S3) **

Nei, an aqua-haired elf girl, came out from behind the curtain to a positive crowd reaction. Nei shook several hands and waved a few times before running down to the arena.

When she hit the arena, Nei looked around for allies. Watari was sparring with the French swordswoman, Geddoe and the tall boxer were currently double-teaming the strange man in the yellow outfit and Borus, still screaming insanely, was joining the old man in chasing down the younger man with the sword. Nei suddenly spotted Reed, and rushed over.

"Hey, Reed!" Nei called out.

Reed turned from his battle with Li Xiangfei and saw Nei coming. Reed quickly knocked Xiangfei away and looked at Nei. "Nei, come over here!"

"What for?" Nei asked as she arrived in front of Reed.

"We've got a major problem." Reed said.

"**BASARA!" (SS) **

Slinking out from behind the curtain, Basara, the pale, blue-haired man, moved down to the arena, somehow avoiding to make any footsteps. The crowd gave him a mixed reaction as Basara went into the ring.

This seemed normal. Basara was never really as popular a character as Jubei Yagyu or Galford in the Samurai Showdown series. Still, despite this fact, Basara grinned darkly as he moved over to the battle between Bruce and King.

Lashing out his hand, Basara sent his bladed disk flying at the kickboxer closest to him, which just so happened to be Bruce.

King, however, saw it coming, preparing to take her opponent's head off. King gasped. "Get down!" She order, pushing Bruce to the ground and leaping back as Basara's disk shot overtop of Bruce's head and stopped only a few inches away from King's stomach. As quickly as it was sent out, the disk retracted back to the undead man's hand.

King helped Bruce to his feet. The two stared at Basara, then turned back to each other. After shaking hands, Bruce and King advanced on Basara together.

Basara only chuckled. "So you want to kill me, eh?" He asked. "That'll be kind of hard to do."

"And now, the final fighter of this section…"

"**FALCO LOMBARDI!" (SSB) **

"_I pack my bags and I'm leaving today" _

"_I hit the road and make my getaway"_

"_Cause they'll control you and put to up on a shelf" _

"_You gotta break away so you can be yourself" _

"_So now I'm running. I got the night on my side" _

"_It's revolution and I'm along for the ride" _

"_And I spell trouble with a capital 'T'" _

"_I don't go looking for trouble, it just keeps following me"_

Falco, the blue hotshot of Starfox, came out to Squad Five-O's song 'Renegade'. The audience cheered him as he ran down to the arena and leapt in.

"_When it's all been said and done (Like a Renegade!)" _

"_I am on the run (Like a Renegade!)" _

"_Running through the night (Like a Renegade!)" _

"_To the other side!" _

Landing in the arena, Falco pulled his blaster from his belt and charged at Li Xiangfei. He was tempted to go interfere with the fight between Chang and Baek, but he knew better than to interrupt a fight, especially when it involved a fat man wearing a spandex cap.

As he ran, Falco fired his blaster several times at the Chinese girl. Xiangfei showed a keen sense of awareness and dove to the side, avoiding the laser bolts.

Xiangfei smirked. "That was a big mistake, mister bird." She said as she raised her hands and prepared for a battle.

Falco smiled slyly as Xiangfei rushed at him. "Maybe she'll put up a better fight than I thought…"


	13. Section Five Results

**(The Arena) **

Basara recoiled as King's foot made contact with his face. The undead man rolled back a few feet, but quickly got back into a standing position as he watched his two opponents, Bruce and King, approaching him.

The blue haired man smirked evilly. "You two are really asking for it." Basara thrust his arm out, sending a bladed, spinning disk at the two kick boxers. Bruce and King quickly ran away from each other as Basara's disk drove itself into the canvas. As Basara took time in pulling his weapon back, Bruce drove his knee into his face.

Meanwhile, Hayate was running around the arena in a terrified frenzy, as he had two fighters chasing him. Rouwe, the Galaxy Fighter, was simply looking for an easy elimination while Borus Redrum was much rather looking for something to take his anger out on for getting his theme song changed on him. The Kizuna Encounter warrior quickly realized that unless he did something fast, he'd be eliminated within the next ten seconds.

Hayate spun in place and stopped running, making Rouwe and Borus stop chasing him. "Okay! You guys got me! Do whatever you want to eliminate me!"

Rouwe smirked. "My. This IS an easy elimination." The old man stepped forward, only to have an armoured arm stop him.

"Back off, old man." Borus threatened. "This guy is MINE."

"Show some respect for your elders, son!" Rouwe said. "Your node has already got a fair amount of eliminations! My node has only got one so far! The very least you could do is let me eliminate him!"

"Look. No offense, gramps, but I'm really not in the mood for this." Borus pointed out, poking Rouwe in the chest in annoyance. "I'm really steamed about having my theme song changed on me, and I'm looking for a pathetic fighter to take out my aggression on!"

Hayate winced at that remark, but said nothing as Borus and Rouwe continued arguing.

"Your manners are horrible, sonny!" Rouwe shouted at the blonde knight. "From the way you're acting, you need to be taught a lesson!"

"I don't wish to fight an elderly person." Borus said. "They prove to be not much of a challenge."

Rouwe narrowed his eyes. "With a remark like that, I'd say that your changed theme song actually FITS you!"

Borus' eyes snapped open, then narrowed. "OKAY! THAT'S IT!"

Borus and Rouwe lunged at each other, forming a fight cloud similar to what it looked like when Mario and Sonic first saw each other.

Hayate, in the meantime, took this opportunity to slink away.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"He may not be very good when it comes to fighting, but you have to admire Hayate for his quick thinking there, folks!" Unknown1 said into the mic before switching it off and turning in his chair to look at the three figures the security force had recently brought in. SSBFreak did the same.

Shadow the Hedgehog folded his arms. "What did you guys want us in here for?'

"We understand that you guys are the ones that switched theme songs for Sonic, Maxi and now Borus." SSBFreak said.

"Yeah. We are." Aila sighed. "Are you guys going to lock us up or something?"

Unknown1 smirked. "On the contrary, SSBFreak and I have come up with an offer for you guys."

Astaroth raised an almost non-existent eyebrow. "What?"

"You guys may not know this, but every time a theme song got changed, our ratings went up." SSBFreak explained. "It seems that people like it when the fighters get messed around with."

Shadow, Astaroth and Aila looked at each other curiously, then back at the two announcers.

"We'd like all three of you guys to work the Sound Booth for the rest of the tournament." Unknown1 said.

Shadow did a double take. "What?"

"Hey, you guys had fun, didn't you?" SSBFreak smirked.

"Yeah, we did." Astaroth replied. "You mean that you want us to do what we were doing for the rest of the night?"

"Yeah. As well as provide theme songs for those that didn't request any." SSBFreak added. "So. You guys interested?"

"I'm in."

"Me too!"

"Sounds like fun!"

"Okay." Unknown1 said. "You guys go back to the Sound Booth and look at the order the fighters are coming out, then put up a theme song when they enter the arena."

"Sure thing." Shadow said as he, Astaroth and Aila left the Announcer's Booth.

As the three new friends walked down the hallway, they looked at each other and smirked slyly. This new job would DEFINITELY be entertaining.

**(The Arena) **

Mario shoved his fist at Dee Jay, firing a ball of red ember at the Jamaican. The portly plumber watched as Dee Jay launched an orange projectile out, canceling out the fireball. Mario quickly ran forward and leapt into the air, slamming his fist into Dee Jay's forehead, knocking the cheery guy to the ground.

Dee Jay, rubbing his head, got up. "What's yo problem, mon?" He asked. "That hurt."

"What a-did you a-expect?" Mario shrugged. "We're a-supposed to be a-fighting."

The tall Jamaican grinned. "Then that's what you get, mon!" Without giving Mario a chance to reply, Dee Jay lunged forward and struck Mario with his fist. As the plumber recovered, Dee Jay grabbed him and tossed him over his shoulder. Mario would have gone further than he did if the one corner of the arena hadn't been raised above the ropes. Mario slammed into it and collapsed to the ground.

The red-clad plumber slowly got to his feet and looked at Dee Jay. "That's a-it! You're a-in for it a-now!"

Rather than attack directly, Mario started spinning in place, doing another Mario Tornado. However, this attack was different, because Mario was repeatedly tossing fireballs as he spun in place. Dee Jay quickly moved around to avoid the many fireballs getting thrown at him.

The arena was quickly filled with stray fireballs, and some of the fighters were really noticing (Hayate, one of the unlucky ones, got his hair set on fire). Everyone was quickly moving to avoid the barrage of flames.

When the fire finally died down (and the sprinkler system turned on, drenching the arena), Mario stopped spinning and looked forward. He expected to see Dee Jay running around with his pants on fire or something like that, but instead saw the Jamaican man glaring at him as the water from the sprinkler system continued to fall.

"You…Aren't a-burned…" Mario said.

"Right you are, mon!" Dee Jay quickly grabbed Mario and threw him out of the arena. Dee Jay quickly slipped on the wet canvas and landed on his back.

Mario didn't exactly know where he had landed, as it was completely black. Looking around, Mario still saw nothing. Curiously, Mario created a flame in his hand, lighting up the arena.

The plumber's face drooped when he saw the giant Nemesis standing in front of him.

Back in the arena, King and Bruce continued to double-team Basara. The undead man was currently thinking of re-planning his strategy. These two kick boxers may have looked ordinary, but their fast attacks were starting to get annoying.

Basara pulled his fist back to prepare to strike Bruce in the face when King delivered a Trap Shot to his back. Basara staggered forward, away from both of the fighters.

Turning in place, Basara snarled. "You two are in for it now!" Hoping to have a turn in fortune for him, Basara lashed out his arm and sent another bladed disk at the two kickboxers.

King and Bruce leaned in opposite directions and watched as Basara's disk shot straight past them. This time, the disk didn't stop by landing into the canvas. This time, the bladed weapon shot straight into Scorpion's back. The yellow-clad ninja flinched, but otherwise didn't feel a thing.

Slowly turning in place from his battle with Heavy D!, Scorpion pulled the bladed disk out of his back in annoyance and glared daggers at Basara. The undead ninja took very slow steps in walking over.

Bruce quickly looked at King. "Let's get out of here. I have a feeling of what's going to happen next."

King nodded as she and Bruce ran off, leaving nothing in between Scorpion and Basara.

Scorpion held up the bladed disk in his hand. "Is this yours?" He asked coldly.

Basara nodded, a little unsure of what his opponent was going to do.

Scorpion stopped walking, let go of the bladed disk and watched as it retracted back into Basara's hand.

The yellow-clad ninja quickly lashed out his hand. "GET OVER HERE!" He roared.

The crowd went nuts as a familiar spear shot from Scorpion's hand and plunged into Basara's stomach. As the blue haired man was quickly reeled in, Basara could do nothing but watch as Scorpion wound up his fist.

*POW!*

Once he had reeled Basara in close enough, Scorpion sent his fist flying, performing his deadly uppercut on Basara. This was more than enough to send Basara out of the arena and into the vortex.

Basara fell headlong into Silent Hill. He fit right in.

Back in the arena, Hayate breathed heavily in relief. The sprinkler system was still pumping out water and had managed to put out the fire in his hair. Hayate stood straight and looked around as a steady stream of smoke continued to rise from his hair. Now it was time to try and eliminate someone.

Looking in one corner of the arena, Hayate saw Heady D! and Geddoe still dueling. Thinking that he could eliminate one of them if their back was turned, Hayate pulled his sword from its holster and ran forward.

Unfortunately for him, D! saw him coming, then looked at Geddoe. "Looks like we've got a bogey coming."

Geddoe turned and saw Hayate running over, then looked back at D!. "I'll be right back."

"Sure thing."

Geddoe turned completely and pulled his fist back. Once Hayate came within range, Geddoe thrust his fist out, nailing the oncoming Hayate in the face with perfect timing. The younger fighter was instantly sent to the floor.

The long-haired mercenary looked down at Hayate and shook his head. "Your node should have reconsidered coming to this tournament." Grabbing Hayate by his pant legs, Geddoe lifted the younger fighter off the ground and started spinning in place. After spinning a good several times, Geddoe released Hayate, sending the younger fighter flying straight towards the duel between Baek Doo San and Chang Koehan.

Chang's ears perked up from underneath his skincap as he momentarily stopped fighting Baek. "Excuse me for a moment, citizen." The huge man said. "'The Koehan' senses something coming this way and I need to deal with it."

Baek nodded. "By all means. Go ahead."

Chang gripped his iron wrecking ball and spun in place, slamming his weapon into the oncoming Hayate's body, firing the very unsurprised fighter out of the arena. Chang then turned back to Baek. "Thank you. May we continue?"

Hayate, like Mario, wasn't sure where he had landed. From the looks of things, he had landed on a huge drum of some sort. Hayate stood up and sighed in relief. He was half expecting some huge monster or something to attack him.

Suddenly, Hayate heard a low growl coming from behind. Slowly looking over his shoulder, he saw Don Bongo (of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) hovering over the drum, both of his huge fists getting ready to beat the musical instrument.

On another side of the arena, a less violent duel was taking place.

Nei lashed out her fist at Reed, purposefully missing his head. "You're saying that there's some sort of plot going on?" The elf girl asked, wide-eyed.

Reed nodded as he did a weak sweep kick, which Nei quickly and easily jumped over. "Yes. We're still not exactly sure who the targets are, but we DO know that there ones behind it are villains from several different nodes."

"I'd bet anything that Yuber's in on it, too." Nei muttered.

"No bet here."

The mock duel continued as Reed jabbed with his sword slowly. Nei sidestepped it. "So what would you like me to do?" Nei asked. "You want me out of here so I can help?"

"On the contrary, I want YOU to eliminate ME." Reed replied.

Nei's eyes widened. "Why would you want me to do that? You've been in the ring way longer than I have!"

"That's just the problem." Reed replied. "I'm starting to get weighed down by fatigue. I'm eventually going to fall anyway. Plus, I'd much rather be eliminated by someone from my node rather than someone from another node."

"But what can I do, then?" Nei countered.

"I need you to stay in the arena as long as you can, Nei." Reed replied. "You're my team's only ally in the ring right now. You have to try and get help from others." He looked up at the Eliminated Seating. "I just feel that I need to get out of here and find Samus. I think I'm needed more outside the arena."

Nei sighed, realizing that there was no way out of this. "Okay. I'll throw you out."

"Great. Just remember the rest of the team in case one of them enters the arena soon."

Nei nodded as she grabbed Reed and tossed him over the ropes and out of the arena. The elf girl sighed sadly as she ran off.

Reed landed in Megaman 8. Getting up, the blonde man looked around and saw that he was in some sort of ruins.

"Is that a sword, sir?" A British voice asked from behind.

Reed turned and saw Sword Man standing there. "Yeah. Why?"

"I am the only one here good enough to wield a sword, my boy!" Sword Man shouted angrily. "Prepare to-"

That was all the robot could get out before Reed cut him in half with one swing.

**(Dome; Vending Machines) **

Julia Chang hummed a cheerful song as she pressed a couple of buttons on the vending machine, making an energy bar drop from the rack inside and land in the dispensing tray. Reaching into the machine, Julia pulled out the snack and unwrapped it part-way.

Out of all the eliminated fighters, Julia was probably taking it the best. She had a feeling she wasn't going to win the tournament with her draw being so early and all, so she wasn't all that surprised when she was tossed from the arena.

She HAD met a god amount of people so far, though. She had even exchanged mailing addresses with Pai Chan, becoming fast friends with her.

Julia was about to take a bite out of her snack bar when she suddenly thought of the tournament so far. So far, Bruce was the only fighter from the Tekken node to get an elimination. She, Howarang, Xiaoyu and now Asuka had all been eliminated pretty quickly, although Julia would've bet that Asuka was eliminated on purpose. The native girl shrugged. The heavy hitters from their node had yet to come out. Jin, Yoshimitsu, Kazuya and Jack-5 still hadn't entered, and Julia bet that at least one of them could score an elimination.

The young woman took one bite of her energy bar before something caught her attention. A man dressed in purple was coming around a nearby corner, looking like he was struggling to stay conscious. When Julia first looked at him, the man was limping, but he was quickly brought to all fours as he continued to drag himself along the hall.

Julia dropped her snack and rushed to the man's side. "Are you alright?" She asked.

Eiji Kisaragi looked up into the face of Julia weakly. "Please…Help…" Was all he could manage before his collapsed completely, blacking out again.

**(Dome; Main Hallway) **

A ball of webbing shot past Gen-An's face and splattered against the wall. The green hunchback growled and lunged at Venom, the one that fired the webbing, preparing to take the mutant's head off.

Venom, however, saw the attack coming and struck a pose. "Death Bite!" The alien mutant shouted as two fanged mouths shot from the ground around him and encircled him, taking a good bite out of Gen-An. The green hunchback was sent flying back into the wall.

Venom chuckled. "Is that all you got?" He asked. "We could take you blindfolded!"

Gen-An leapt to his feet and glared at the mutant. "I think not! I have yet to do my ultimate attack!"

With that, Gen-An rolled forward in a ball and shoved his claw out, attempting to strike Venom multiple times.

Venom groaned in annoyance and stepped out of the way. "Great. Another Vega-ripoff."

Gen-An unrolled himself and looked at Venom. "What was that?" He shrieked.

"You heard us." Venom replied. "You've got claws, you've got a high-pitched voice and you roll around in a ball." He shrugged. "If that doesn't just scream 'Vega', we don't know what does."

A vein appeared on Gen-An's forehead in anger. "YOU!" The green freak jumped at Venom, slashing wildly.

Meanwhile, two more figures were fighting. Earthquake was big and strong, but he had an incredibly hard time hitting Landis, whom was using his quick agility to his advantage. Every time Earthquake swung his weapon, Landis swiftly moved to the side, resulting in the floor getting cracked a few times.

Seeing the smug grin on his foe's face, Earthquake growled. "You little punk! Stand still!" Raising his weapon into the air, Earthquake prepared to take Landis down.

Landis only chuckled. "The Grim Reaper doesn't listen to fat pigs like you." The Winghorde snickered. "He kills them instead."

The Grim Reaper fanatic crouched low and spread his wings. Jumping off the ground, Landis took to the air and flew circles around Earthquake. The giant mountain of man tried attacking him, but Landis was simply flying way too fast.

Earthquake continued turning in place, starting to get dizzy from trying to keep an eye on Landis. Suddenly, Landis vanished from the giant's point of view. Earthquake stopped turning and looked around curiously.

"Where are you, punk?" Earthquake shouted. "Where'd you go?"

"Over here!"

Earthquake looked in the direction of the voice and saw Landis perched on his shoulder like a parrot. Landis stared at Earthquake for a few seconds, his creepy grin plastered on his face, before slamming his head into the thief's forehead. As Earthquake staggered back, Landis leapt off his shoulder and landed on the ground.

The giant looked down at Landis, growled and pulled his weapon into the air again. Just as he swung it down, Landis lifted his scythe, parrying the blow perfectly.

Landis' good eye twinkled in excitement. "THE GRIM REAPER COMES!" He shouted as he leapt into the air and slammed his fist into Earthquake's face.

Venom did a wall-jump to leap over the attacking Gen-An. Eddie Brock landed behind the green hunchback and kicked him in the back of the head.

Rubbing his head in annoyance, Gen-An turned and got ready to take Venom's face off.

And got a face full of webbing for his troubles.

As Gen-An furiously scratched at the webbing covering his face, Venom created another web-line. Venom shot it out and watched as it wrapped around the green man's waist. Venom leapt into the air, pulling Gen-An up with him. Venom spun in midair and swung his web-line down, slamming Gen-An into the floor with amazing force. This was too much for the green man to handle, as he didn't get back up from the attack.

Venom landed gracefully on his feet and looked down at the defeated Gen-An in triumph. The alien's head pulled away from the human body it was engulfing, revealing the head and shoulders of Eddie Brock, who smirked. "No offense, pal. You were just really creepin' me out." After Eddie said that, the alien's head reattached to him, forming Venom again. The mutant turned to help his new friend with Earthquake, but was surprised to see the giant man down for the count. Landis was perched on Earthquake's huge gut, looking at the thief's face with a smug grin. "The Grim Reaper warned you." Landis jumped off the defeated giant and saw that Venom had won his battle as well.

"The Grim Reaper likes how you fight, Venom." Landis chuckled.

"We are pleased to see that you won as well." Venom replied. "Now, let's get out of here before they wake up."

"Works for me!"

Landis and Venom ran off down the hallway, leaving Earthquake and Gen-An on the ground, defeated.

**(The Arena) **

Rouwe swung his fist, catching Borus in the face. The blonde knight retaliated with a punch to the older man's stomach.

Ever since Hayate got them arguing, Rouwe and Borus were at each other's throats, unaware that their intended target had already been eliminated. Borus, furious that this old man was starting to get the better of him, ripped his sword from its holster and charged at Rouwe, attempting to run him through.

Rouwe saw the attack coming and dodged to the side, allowing Borus' blade of steel to pass by him. The elder fighter quickly punched Borus in the face before he could recover.

Borus rubbed his face and looked at Rouwe. "You have been annoying me long enough, old man!" He shouted. "Once I'm through with you, I'll take out that pathetic fighter I was supposed to eliminate!"

"Not if I take you down first, sonny!" Rouwe shouted back.

Borus let out a battle cry, raised his sword and charged forward, getting ready to tear Rouwe to shreds.

The old man, however, knew ahead of time that Borus would try this. Rouwe rolled to the side as Borus ran by. Quickly bringing himself out of the roll, Rouwe grabbed Borus and threw him away, using an amazing amount of strength.

The throw wasn't nearly enough to send Borus out of the arena, but it WAS strong enough to send him over to the duel King was having with Bruce.

King looked in the direction Borus was coming from and sighed. "It looks like people are getting thrown around left and right here." She turned to look at Bruce. "I'll be right back."

Looking at Borus, she faced the airborne knight. "Trap Shot!" She shouted, launching her trademark projectile at Borus. Once the blue energy shot struck Borus, he was instantly brought out of the air, landing face first on the canvas.

King grabbed Borus, hauled him to his feet and continually drove her knee into his face. After about five attacks, King let go of Borus and kicked him hard. The power from King's kick sent Borus up onto one of the platforms above the ropes. King jumped up after him.

When she landed on the platform, King slowly approached Borus and looked down at him. "You really need to learn how to control your anger." She said simply.

Picking up Borus again, King decided to put him out of his misery and threw him off the platform, making him fall out of the arena. King jumped off the platform and continued her duel with Bruce.

Borus landed in Power Stone. Getting up, he saw the concerned look from the Arabian girl Rouge. Looking behind her, Borus saw the huge native man Galuda standing there.

"Are you alright, sir?" Rouge asked.

Borus grunted and pulled away from her, starting to walk away. "Get away from me, barbarian."

The Swordsman of Rage was walking off when a shadow fell over him. Looking back, he saw Galuda standing over him with an angry expression.

"What did you just call Rouge?" Galuda asked.

"A barbarian." Borus spat. "In fact, I think that-"

The last thing Borus saw was Galuda bringing his giant hand down on the knight's head.

**(The Arena) **

Rouwe watched as King eliminated Borus and laughed. "Serves that whippersnapper right." He said. He then started looking around. "Now, where did that Hayate fellow get to?"

"He was eliminated already!" Janne called out to him.

"What?" Rouwe asked. "By who?"

Almost instantly, every fighter in the arena was pointing at Chang Koehan. The large man saw this and laughed. "'The Koehan' may have been the one to eliminate him, but someone had already thrown him over to me."

"Then who was it?" Rouwe asked, clearly mad that his easy elimination had been taken from him.

"That was me." Geddoe said aloud. "You have a problem with that?"

Rouwe rolled up his sleeves. "I guess I'll just have to settle for you, sonny." With that, Rouwe charged forward.

Geddoe narrowed his eye and lashed out with his sword, making a cut in Rouwe's outfit. "Don't call me sonny." Geddoe said. "I've got about forty years on you."

The older-looking man staggered to his feet and shook his head a couple of times. "You'll pay for that!"

Suddenly, a fist collided with Rouwe's cheek, knocking him away. Rouwe got up and looked at his attacker, seeing the elf girl Nei.

"That's for trying to take out Geddoe!" Nei shouted. "Unlike you, he's actually a leader in an army! He'll be able to mop the floor with you without breaking a sweat!"

"It's quite alright, Nei." Geddoe walked over. "You don't have to defend me from this guy. I'll take it from here."

Nei nodded and ran off again, leaving Geddoe and Rouwe alone.

Geddoe grabbed Rouwe by the collar of his outfit, pulled his hand back and started charging his True Lightning Rune.

Rouwe gulped, realizing that he was pretty much eliminated by now.

The old man was right. Geddoe thrust his fist out, creating a pillar of electricity that sent Rouwe straight up into the air. As Rouwe came down, Geddoe finished the attack off with a horizontal slash with his sword, knocking Rouwe over the ropes.

Rouwe landed in Crash Team Racing. He unfortunately landed on Nitrus Oxide during the alien's race with Crash Bandicoot. Rouwe had covered Oxide's eyes, and pretty soon, the blind alien drove himself (and Rouwe) into a wall, resulting in a small explosion.

**(The Crowd) **

Craig Marduk couldn't stop laughing when he saw Rouwe get blown up. "That was great!" The giant man laughed. "That old geezer totally felt the wrath of the tournament there!" He slowed his laughing down to a chuckle as he continued. "These old people are way too weak. They shouldn't be allowed to be fighting at all."

*THWACK!*

Less than one second later, Craig was rubbing his head, where a hard, wooden cane had just hit him. Looking at his attacker, he saw a ticked-off Cranky Kong.

"Now, you listen to me, sonny!" Cranky said from his seat beside Marduk. "There's nothing wrong with us old people fighting! We are actually far more experienced than you young people, giving us the edge!"

"That's what you think! You old timers wouldn't last three minutes in the arena without having a heart attack!" Marduk retaliated. "You especially!"

"You take that back, you whippersnapper!"

As Cranky continued arguing with Marduk, Wang Jinrei shook his head from a few rows of seats back.

"This is worse than when the Williams sisters argue." Wang sighed.

"That's nothing." Vector the Crocodile said from beside the old man. "You should hear it when Sonic and Shadow go at it. THAT'S when things get loud."

**(The Arena) **

Falco Lombardi fired another bolt of purple laser from his blaster. Li Xiangfei saw this coming and leaned to the side, although the laser grazed her shoulder. The Chinese girl quickly recovered and ran and Falco, delivering three hard punches to his face.

The blue falcon rubbed his beak and glared at Xiangfei. "You're good. I'll give you that. However, I doubt that you'll be able to take me down."

Xiangfei smirked as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a meat bun. She, downed it, chewed a few times, swallowed and gave her response. "To me, you're nothing but a full course meal, mister bird." Smacking her lips at the thought of roast duck, she grinned. "How good do you think you would taste?"

Falco's eyes snapped open. After seeing how fast his opponent ate that meat bun, Falco realized that she was perfectly capable of eating him. He quickly realized that the only way to save himself from being the main course for Xiangfei's dinner was to eliminate her, and fast.

Falco crouched low and zoomed forward in a split second, knocking Xiangfei off her feet. Falco quickly got up and thrust his foot into his opponent's stomach. Xiangfei quickly got up and kicked Falco, knocking him away from her.

Xiangfei cracked her knuckles and watched as Falco stood up and charged at her, his blaster ready to fire. As soon as Falco got close enough, Xiangfei grabbed him and spun him around, finally flipping him over her shoulder. Falco landed on his back, then looked back at Xiangfei.

The Chinese girl pulled her hands back and started gathering energy. "This final attack will take you out for good, mister bird!" Xiangfei chuckled.

Xiangfei thrust her arms out, firing a huge beam of energy at the blue falcon. Falco, breathing heavily, decided to use his last ditch attack.

Shoving his arms out on either side of him, Falco activated some kind of blue octagon that surrounded him. Xiangfei's beam struck the prism head on, but to the Chinese girl's surprise, bounced right back. Falco had put up his reflector and had put it to good use.

Xianfei, unable to overcome the shock of what had just happened, took full force from her own energy beam. The Chinese girl rocketed straight out of the arena as the beam continued going (burning a hole in the back of Chang's outfit at the same time; he didn't really notice).

Falco grasped his knees and sighed in relief.

Xiangfei landed in Banjo-Kazooie. Looking around, she saw a brown bear walking over to her.

"Hey, there!" The bear greeted with a Southern accept. "The name's Banjo. Ah live around here." He scratched his head. "You don't look too familiar, missy. Are ya from that there tournament Ah've been hearin' so much about?"

Xiangfei was about to answer when a red bird popped out of Banjo's backpack.

"Hey, Banjo! Who's your friend?" Kazooie asked.

At the sight of the red bird, Xiangfei's mouth started watering. "Chicken…Chicken…Must…Eat…Chicken!" She said as she slowly approached the bear and bird.

Kazooie sweated as she nervously tapped her beak against Banjo's head. "Start running, Banjo! This crazy girl thinks I'm supper!"

Banjo didn't need to be told twice. Turning around, the brown bear ran off with Xiangfei in hot pursuit.

**(Hotel; Floor 30) **

King Lion was on thin ice, and he knew it.

Despite his team having higher numbers, this team of four was quickly overpowering them. And to top it all off, the person leading the opposing team was Dan Hibiki, someone who usually isn't taken too seriously.

King Lion tried lashing out his fist at the pink-clad man, but Dan proved superior yet again. Dan rolled back as King Lion threw the punch, stood up and taunted. Dan quickly lashed his own hand out, creating a very small fireball. It didn't travel very far, but King Lion was standing within range. The fireball slammed into the taller man's stomach.

"Ha! How do you like THAT?" Dan laughed.

King Lion growled. "You're in for it now, you loser." He muttered. "Carnage! Give me a hand, here!"

Dan looked up in time to see a red version of Venom falling towards him. Rolling out of the way again, Dan watched as Carnage landed on his feet, directly where the man in pink had been standing only a second before.

Carnage laughed. "I'm gonna break you in two!" He shouted in a high-pitched voice.

Dan shuddered at the annoying pitch of Carnage's voice, but quickly regained his senses. "That's what you think!"

He pink-clad man looked ahead and saw that King Lion and Carnage were approaching him together. Cracking his knuckles, Dan threw himself at the two.

Lee Chaolan staggered forward, clutching the back of his head. "Man. This wrestler is more skilled than I thought." Turning, Lee was prepared to take Rainbow Mika down, but stopped himself when he saw Mika soaring through the air at him, hip-first.

Mika's hip slammed into Lee's face, knocking the silver-haired man back even further.

Standing up straight, Mika looked at Lee and cracked her knuckles. "I'll show you how evil never wins!" Mika paused to think about what she just said, then smacked herself on the forehead. "I'm starting to sound like Kim Kaphwan." Mika continued, running at Lee and wrapping her arms around him.

Lee could do nothing as Mika lifted him off the ground and slammed him into the floor several times in succession. After finishing, Mika ran at the wall, jumped off of it and landed on Lee's prone figure, elbow-first.

"I'm coming, buddy!" A new voice shouted.

Mika looked ahead in time to see Birdie charging at her, preparing to deliver his trademark head-butt. Mika tried getting up and running off, but it was already too late. Birdie had successfully connected his head with Mika, firing the young wrestler into the wall. Birdie quickly helped Lee to his feet.

"What kept you, bone brain?" Lee asked in annoyance.

Birdie scratched his head. "Well, no one was fighting me, so when I saw you in trouble, I decided to lend a hand."

Lee stood in silence for a few seconds before bonking Birdie on the head. However, neither of them noticed Mika slowly getting to her feet.

Mika popped her neck and breathed heavily. "Okay! No more miss nice-girl!"

Cody, on the other hand, was having a blast. Taking on Ripper and Hopper at the same time was no sweat, Cody was thinking. The former hero of Metro City was figuring that he could mop the floor with these two losers and still have enough energy to help someone else.

"Criminal Upper!" Cody shouted, lashing out his arm at Ripper. A small tornado that appeared quickly lifted the black-haired bodyguard off the ground and straight into the low ceiling of the room the battle was taking place in.

As Ripper fell to the ground, Cody spun around and slammed his fist into Hopper's face. The bald man had been attempting to sneak up behind the ex-convict and Cody sensed that easily.

As Hopper staggered back, Cody looked into another corner of the room. "How're ya holding up, Samus?"

Samus, the dark-skinned warrior, looked back at Cody as he parried another blow from Yuber. "Not bad. Give me about five minutes and I'll join you." He called back.

Yuber fumed. "It does not take THAT short of time to beat me!"

Samus smirked. "You'd be surprised, Yuber." Lashing out his sword again, Samus managed to clip Yuber's shoulder. Somehow, it still didn't draw any blood.

"I see you're still as invulnerable as ever." Samus said.

Yuber smirked evilly. "I'm so glad to see that you noticed."

Samus started charging his Wind Rune as he lashed out his sword again. "What're you up to this time, Yuber?" He asked. "I know that it has something to do with kidnapping, but who are the targets?"

Yuber's smirk got even darker. "You really think I'm going to tell you? You really ARE as stupid as you look!"

Samus' eyes narrowed as he shoved his arm into the air, casting some wind magic. A powerful gust of wind shot through the door, slamming into Yuber with full power. The power from the wind knocked Yuber off his feet and sent him flying into a wall. Yuber collapsed and didn't get back up.

"It wouldn't have hurt as much if you didn't call me 'stupid'." Samus said. He turned to help out Cody, but stopped himself.

Cody had already taken out Ripper, and was going to town with attacking Hopper. Cody's punches were so quick that Hopper didn't have a chance to counter anything. With one final punch, Cody sent Hopper to the ground, knocked out.

"Not bad, Cody." Samus said.

"It was nothing." Cody replied. "These guys are like punching bags with shades."

"Well, let's go help Dan and Mika."

"Okay. Let's go!"

Cody quickly rushed over to the two-on-one battle Dan was having with King Lion and Carnage. Currently, Carnage was holding Dan's arms as King Lion was punching his stomach. Cody quickly pulled Carnage off of Dan and delivered a hard punch to the mutant's face. Dan quickly kicked King Lion in revenge.

Samus, in the meantime, had grabbed Birdie and thrown him into a wall, leaving Mika to fight Lee. Samus slammed the handle of his sword into Birdie's forehead, knocking the giant thug down again.

Dan quickly connected his fist with King Lion's face. The dark boxer was starting to weaken, and Dan knew it. Backing up, Dan prepared to finish his opponent off.

"Dan-Dan-Kick!" Dan announced, leaping at King Lion and striking his chest with three consecutive kicks.

King Lion, having received too much pain to handle, collapsed, utterly defeated.

Dan stood over his fallen opponent and breathed heavily. He then looked around at the rest of his team. Samus looked a little rough, but he had managed to take down Birdie. Cody looked almost untouched, having quickly defeated Carnage, and almost looked like he wanted more action. Ripper, Hopper and Yuber lay sprawled out on the floor, knocked out. Lee Chaolan was the only villain left standing, and he was starting to look a little nervous as R. Mika approached him angrily.

"Uh…" Lee looked around for a way out. "I gotta go."

Without giving anyone a chance to reply, Lee turned around and bolted out the door.

"I got him!" Mika shouted to the rest of the team as she ran out the door after him.

**(The Arena) **

King ducked as Bruce's foot swung over her head. She retaliated with a hard kick of her own, which Bruce easily blocked. The two of them had been fighting a long while now, and neither of them was showing any signs of stopping anytime soon.

"You have to wear down sometime!" King shouted. "You're been in the ring so long you MUST be getting tired by now!"

"Are you kidding?" Bruce asked with a smirk. "I'm just getting started."

Despite not having any projectiles, Bruce was definitely holding his own against King, who lashed out Trap Shots and Venom Strikes with any chance she could get.

Bruce got ready to drive his knee into King's stomach when something struck the back of his head. Momentarily stopping himself from attacking, Bruce felt the back of his head as he looked down.

"Hello. What's this?" Bruce asked as he bent over and picked up the object that had hit him.

King's eyes snapped open when she saw that Bruce was holding a pair of shades. "LOOK OUT!" King shouted, pushing Bruce down.

"Chain Driver!" K' shouted as he ran forward and lashed out his hand, sending out a wave of fire. However, since King had pushed Bruce to the ground, she was the one that took the full blow from K's attack. Screaming in pain, King flew through the air, landed on her side and rolled for a few feet before she finally stopped.

Bruce jumped to his feet and looked at K' angrily. "You'll pay for that one, you anti-social, white-haired, Kyo clone!"

K's eyes widened, the narrowed. "Kyo clone? I'm way better than that loser!"

K' ran at Bruce and swung his fist, but Bruce was far too quick, even with the fatigue starting to tire him out. After ducking below K's punch, Bruce leapt into the air and slammed his heel into the white-haired clone's forehead. K' staggered back, but Bruce wasn't done. The black kick boxer drove his knee into K's face, knocking him away. As K' slowly stood up, Bruce ran headlong at him.

Shaking his head to regain his senses, K' looked forward angrily, only to see Bruce's foot coming at his face.

The crowd cheered Bruce on as he watched K' fly from the arena. Lowering his leg, Bruce ran over to King to she if she was alright.

"You okay, King?" Bruce asked as he helped the bartender to her feet.

"Yeah. I'll manage." King nodded.

"Hey, thanks for saving my neck back there." Bruce said. "I owe you one."

King smiled. "No problem."

K' landed in Sparkster. In pure annoyance at how horribly he had done in the arena, he destroyed an army of enemy tanks in a matter of seconds.

Back in the arena, Baek Doo San dodged as Chang's iron wrecking ball swung through the air. Baek quickly kicked the fat man in the stomach, but he wasn't sure if Chang felt it or not.

"You are definitely worthy of the title of 'Tae Kwon Do Master', Baek!" Chang laughed. "'The Koehan' has never seen anyone as good at it as you!"

"Although I am severely surprised, you are one of the best Tae Kwon Do fighters I have ever seen as well." Baek replied as he lashed out his foot again. Chang quickly blocked it. "By looking at you, I never would have guessed that you even had any knowledge of the martial art."

"I appreciate the compliment, mister Doo San." Chang bowed politely. "Now, let's continue fighting and see which one of us pulls out on top!"

"Now you're talking." Baek said with a smirk.

Baek continued attacking, performing his three-kick combo. Chang managed to block the first two, but the third kick struck his face, making him step back a couple of steps.

The older fighter quickly used Chang's stunned state to his advantage, running at the overweight man and driving his knee into his stomach. The sheer power from the kick actually hurt Chang, knocking him away several feet.

Chang leapt to his feet and watched as Baek ran at him again. Baek lashed out his foot yet again, but Chang grabbed it before it came into contact with his face. Chang then spun his wrist, yanking Baek off the ground and spinning him in midair before making him land on his stomach.

The demented superhero stepped forward and looked down at Baek. "It appears I have gotten the upper hand, mister Doo San." He said. "I apologize, but I must eliminate you now."

Picking Baek up, Chang easily tossed him from the arena. Chang bowed in the direction of Baek as he watched the older man vanish into the portal.

Baek landed in Superman 64, where he nearly died of boredom.

**(The Crowd) **

Craig Marduk continued laughing. "I told you that you were out of your time, Baek!" He shouted. "You couldn't even get an elimination! You old fogeys should go back to playing bingo!"

*THWACK!*

Marduk rubbed his head again, watching as Cranky Kong held his cane, getting ready to strike him a third time.

"You're starting to get on my nerves, old ape!" Marduk pointed out.

"Listen here, sonny!" Cranky replied. "Show some respect to the older generation or else I'll be forced to do something drastic!"

"Ah, shut it, old man! I could take you on any day!"

"Is that a challenge?" Cranky narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly, both Marduk and Cranky were hoisted out of their seats by the person sitting directly behind them.

"I can't take much more of you two arguing." Mike Haggar said to the two bickering characters. "I apologize in advance to you guys, no matter where you end up."

With that, Haggar threw both oversized man and wrinkled, old ape out of the bleachers, sending them both over the railings of the stands, straight into an elimination portal at exactly the same time.

Haggar sat back down as he received a standing ovation from everyone else in the arena.

**(The Arena) **

Geddoe lashed out his sword, but his opponent, Heavy D!, leaned back and allowed it to pass over him. The long-haired man was getting frustrated at how long it was taking him to eliminate D!. The man didn't even use his feet, and yet the two of them had been fighting ever since before the current section even started.

"You're going to be eliminated sooner or later." Geddoe said. "It may as well be now."

D! smirked. "I'm afraid I have to stick around a little while longer." The boxer performed an R.S.D., striking Geddoe in the face.

As Geddoe stepped back, D! continued, punching the mercenary in the stomach. Geddoe quickly recovered and lashed out his hand, engulfing it in electricity. Geddoe slammed his fist into D!'s stomach, electrocuting him.

After the mercenary's attack ended, Heavy D! got to his feet and shook his head several times. Looking at his opponent, he narrowed his eyes. "That does it!"

D! quickly lashed out his fist, catching Geddoe in the face. As Geddoe staggered back, D! pulled his hand back.

"**D! MAGNUM!" **

*KA-POW!*

The audience gave D! a loud cheer as the thunderous explosion echoed throughout the bleachers. The sheer power of the blow sent Geddoe clear out of the arena.

Geddoe landed in an old warehouse of some sort. Looking around, he spotted a strange-looking glass object on the ground.

Curiously, Geddoe picked it up, not realizing that he was now holding a light bulb, and the hand he was holding it in held the True Lightning Rune. The electricity flowed from Geddoe's hand and quickly lit up the light bulb.

Geddoe suddenly heard a loud shriek. Turning his head, he saw a huge, lanky rat in a yellow jumpsuit staring at him in shock.

"That poor, defenseless lightbulb!" Megavolt screamed as he threw himself at Geddoe. "Release him this instant!"

**(Dome; Outside SSB Locker Room) **

Bowser opened his mouth and exhaled, sending a steady stream of fire at his opponent, Hyo Amano. The pink-clad man quickly ran to the side as the fire pelted the wall he was standing in front of.

Amano sweated as he tried to think of some way he could defeat Bowser without killing him. He had never wanted trouble to begin with. The only thing he wanted was to ask Ness and Mewtwo what they thought about this dark force Jin Chonrei had felt earlier. Now he was in a fierce battle with a gigantic turtle that could breathe fire and he had no idea on how to defeat him.

The middle-aged man leapt at Bowser and struck him in the face with his foot, but it did little more than make the giant turtle flinch.

Bowser laughed heartily. "You've gotta be kidding me!" He said. "That didn't even hurt!"

Amano response to that was smashing his sword holster, still containing his sword, over the Koopa's head.

Bowser rubbed his head in annoyance. "Okay. THAT hurt."

"Please just let me through!" Amano pleaded as he stepped back. "I just came here to talk with Ness and Mewtwo before they enter the arena!"

"Yeah, right!" Bowser scoffed. "I ain't buying your story, pal!"

"I'm serious!" Amano said. "I'm not even interested in Peach!"

Bowser froze, his eye starting to twitch. **"ARE YOU SAYING THAT PEACH ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU? THAT DOES IT! YOU'RE GOING DOWN, BUDDY!"** He roared.

The giant Koopa lunged at Amano, slashing his razor-sharp claws repeatedly. Amano leapt into the air to avoid the claws, landed on Bowser's head and ran down the turtle's shell, doing his best to avoid stepping on one of the shell's spikes.

Bowser, however, foresaw this. Whipping his tail upwards just as Amano approached it, he smacked the middle-aged man in the face, knocking him off Bowser's back.

Amano landed on his back, looking up at the ceiling. He quickly saw Bowser poke his head into view, looking down at him.

Bowser grabbed Amano and hauled him off the ground. Lifting Amano into the air, Bowser smirked, showing his sharp fangs.

"Try and steal Peach from me, will ya?" He asked.

Bowser turned to face down the hallway and pulled Amano back. The giant Koopa lashed out his arm, bowling Amano down the long hall. The pink-clad man screamed in terror as he slid headfirst down the hallway, leaving Bowser to watch him sail off, smirking.

The door to the Locker Room opened as Peach stuck her head out. "Who was it, Bowser?"

Bowser smirked and walked back into the Locker Room. "Just another fanboy, Peach."

**(The Arena) **

Janne swung her sword at Watari again. Like before, the white-haired ninja dodged by teleporting aside. The two had been dueling for a while now. Sure, they had become allies, but that wouldn't stop them from fighting and possibly eliminating each other.

"I must admit that you are a great ninja." Janne said as Watari appeared again. "Hanzou and Fuuma could learn a few things from you."

Watari lashed out his sword, but Janne quickly parried it. "I appriciate it, miss Janne." He stepped back and threw a couple of ninja stars, which Janne easily blocked. "I apologize, but I must put our little conversation to an end by eliminating you."

Janne smirked. "If anyone's going to eliminate someone, it's me." She replied. Charging forward, Janne lashed out her sword again.

Watari quickly saw the danger he was in and teleported away again, leaving nothing for Janne to cut in two but a log. Janne looked around for her opponent, but saw nothing.

"Where'd you go now?" Janne called out.

Suddenly, Janne heard something being thrown. Leaping to the side, she watched as a ninja star flew past here where her back would have been (the ninja star instead made a severe cut in Dee Jay's pants). Looking back, the French woman saw Watari standing on one of the corners that was raised above the ropes.

Janne quickly jumped up onto the platform and lashed out her sword at Watari again. Watari pulled out his ninja katana and parried the blow quickly. The two swords locked as both fighters tried to wear each other down. They continued pushing against one another in hopes of breaking the sword apart.

Watari, using his 'madskillz', quickly sensed that he was getting pushed a little too close to the edge of the platform for his liking. Unless he did something fast, Janne would easily eliminate him.

Running out of tricks, Watari teleported again.

Janne, however, anticipated where Watari would end up and thrust her fist behind her. Sure enough, she struck Watari in the face, stunning him.

The French woman quickly used this to her advantage and pushed the stunned Watari off the platform and out of the arena.

Watari landed in Naruto. Looking around, he saw that he was in a forest.

"What the hey? Are you some sort of fanboy or something?"

Watari looked over his shoulder and saw another ninja standing a few yards away. Aside from the fact that the ninja's outfit was a slightly different colour, the ninja looked amazingly similar to Watari.

Watari narrowed his eyes. "I think not. From the looks of things, I'd say that YOU were the fanboy."

Both ninjas promptly pulled their respective katana from their holsters and rushed at each other, preparing for battle.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

Unknown1 glared at SSBFreak accusingly. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

SSBFreak smirked slyly. "I do everything on purpose."

**(The Arena) **

Janne sighed in relief as she leapt off the platform. Finally, she had eliminated him. As much as she hated to admit it, she was feeling pretty close to elimination already. Watari had taken a lot out of her to eliminate, and Janne wasn't sure how much more she could take.

Still, Janne wasn't one to give up. Walking forward, she looked around for someone to take on.

A purple laser bolt suddenly slammed into her stomach. However, since she was wearing armour, the shot simply bounced off again (it struck Scorpion in the face, but he didn't really notice much). Looking in the direction the laser came from, she saw Falco Lombardi standing there, his pistol smoking.

Janne sighed. "You want to fight me, do you, Mr. Lombardi?" She shrugged. "Okay. I guess I could use a little more exercise."

Falco smirked. "You're asking for it, lady." Placing his blaster back, Falco cracked his knuckles. "I could use another elimination. That Chinese girl was hardly a challenge."

The French woman smirked. "Weren't you freaking out when you found out that she wanted to make you her meal?"

Falco's eyes snapped open. "Sh-Shut up!" He shouted. Crouching low, Falco zoomed forward in a Falco Phantasm, creating a blue image of himself as it doubled the attack power. Falco (and his image) plowed through Janne, knocking her to the canvas.

The falcon quickly picked Janne up and threw her over his shoulder, sending her towards the ropes. Turning in place, Falco fired his blaster several times, each of the shots nailing Janne in the stomach. The power from each blaster bolt forced the airborne Janne back even further, and when Falco had fired the final shot, Janne was already two feet past the ropes. The French woman could do nothing as she fell headlong into the vortex.

Janne landed in Halo 2. After watching her decapitate an advancing Covenant foot soldier in one slash, Master Chief instantly started asking her where she got the really cool Plasma Sword.

In the arena, Dee Jay finally pulled Watari's ninja star from the threads of his pants and inspected the damage. Shaking his head at the huge tear, Dee Jay tossed the ninja star away (it quickly planted itself in the square of Scorpion's back, but, as usual, he didn't notice). Standing straight, Dee Jay looked around to find someone to fight and quickly saw the kick boxing duel King and Bruce were still having.

Performing his Max Out attack, Dee Jay fired a familiar, orange projectile at the two dueling kick boxers.

Bruce saw the projectile coming. "King, don't look now, but I think everyone in the arena wants to take us down."

Turning around, King saw Dee Jay's projectile coming at her. Thinking quickly, King lashed out a Venom Strike. King blue projectile quickly cancelled out Dee Jay's orange one, resulting in both attacks blasting into nothingness.

King rolled up her sleeves and looked at the Jamaican. "Why is it that everyone wants to take us out?"

"Something tells me that it's because I'm the current heavy-hitter now." Bruce muttered, blaming himself for putting King in danger of getting eliminated.

The female bartender stepped forward and launched herself at Dee Jay, driving her knee into his face. As Dee Jay staggered back, King continued by kicking the air several times, firing three Trap Shots at Dee Jay. The Jamaican man managed to block the first two, but the third one broke through his guard. King took advantage of the situation by running at Dee Jay and landed three hard kicks to his face.

Dee Jay was sent flying back-first into the ropes. The Jamaican bounced off the ropes and staggered back towards King. The female bartender quickly leapt up and slammed her knee into Dee Jay's face, finally knocking the Jamaican out of the arena.

Dee Jay landed in NHL 2K4. At the sight of seeing a strange man with no shirt land on the ice, the hockey player with the puck collided with the referee, which quickly escalated into an all-out war between both teams. Dee Jay quickly slinked off the rink and ran off.

Back in the ring, the seven fighters left in the arena took this opportunity to relax a little bit and see how everyone was doing. King, Nei and Falco looked pretty much untouched, and were pretty much ready for the next wave of fighters. Scorpion was just as fresh, although it looked a little weird with Watari's ninja star sticking out of his back. Heavy D! had a few rips and tears in his jacket and a couple of bruises, but was otherwise unharmed. Chang Koehan had a severe hole in the back of his outfit, but was still ready for anything. Bruce Irvin looked like a total wreck. He had several bruises all over his body, a black eye, his shirt had a couple of rips and he looked like he was struggling to stand on his left leg. Everyone had about seven seconds of relaxation before they heard the laughs of Master Hand and Crazy Hand, signaling another arena change.

**RESULTS**

FALCO LOMBARDI (SSB)

KING (KOF)

CHANG KOEHAN (KOF)

HEAVY D! (KOF)

BRUCE IRVIN (T5)

NEI (S3)

SCORPION (MK)

**(ELIMINATED)**

DEE JAY MAXIMUM (SFA3)

JANNE (WH)

GEDDOE (S3)

WATARI (S3)

K' (KOF)

LI XIANGFEI (FF)

MARIO MARIO (SSB)

REED (S3)

BASARA (SS)

BORUS REDRUM (S3)

BAEK DOO SAN (T5)

ROUWE (GF)

HAYATE (KE)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Dark Doubles"**

VENOM (MC) and LANDIS (S3) _**spook**_ EARTHQUAKE and GEN-AN (SS)

"**Rumble of Floor 30" **

DAN HIBIKI, RAINBOW MIKA, CODY (SFA3), and SAMUS (S3)

_**overcome **_

KING LION (KE), YUBER (S3), LEE CHAOLAN (T5), CARNAGE (MC), RIPPER, HOPPER (FF) and BIRDIE (SFA3)

"**King Koopa" **

BOWSER (SSB) _**char-broils**_ HYO AMANO (LB)

Eliminations: Falco, King and Chang, 2; D!, Bruce, Nei, Scorpion, Dee Jay, Janne and Geddoe, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: Bruce Irvin (5), Jubei Yagyu (4), Watari (4), Athena Asamiya (4), Heavy D! (3), Chang Koehan (3)

**Bruce the Bruiser:** So far, not only has Bruce Irvin lasted longer than anyone else, but he is also the only Tekken 5 fighter thus far to get an elimination.

**Domination to Elimination:** Five Suikoden 3 characters entered this round. At the end, Nei is the only one left standing.


	14. Section Six

**(The Arena) **

Everyone watched at the two giant hands circled each other in midair. In fact, Nei was the only fighter to notice that the two corners of the arena sunk back down until they were level with the rest of the ring.

Master Hand and Crazy Hand raised all of their fingers and pointed their fingertips at the canvas. The whole arena was engulfed in some sort of strange, purple energy, blinding everyone in the arena.

When the light vanished, the seven fighters looked around, only to see that the ring was still a square.

"What the heck was that about?" Heavy D! asked aloud.

"Look!" Nei cried.

Everyone did, and instantly saw the ropes around the arena quickly fading from sight before turning off completely.

"This, folks, is our most dangerous arena alteration yet!" Unknown1 pointed out. "With no ropes around the arena at all, things are going to get even more hectic!"

"**HIBIKI TAKANE!" (LB) **

The latest Last Blade fighter, Hibiki, came out to a decent amount of cheering. The young girl smiled, as the added spotlight from CvS2 had given her a little more popularity.

Upon entering the arena, Hibiki's first instinct was to go for someone with a sword, allowing a fair fight. Unfortunately, none of the seven fighters still in the arena had a sword. Hibiki sighed. If only Janne hadn't been eliminated.

Hibiki decided to make the best of things and go for Chang Koehan, as his wrecking ball technically counted as a weapon. Hibiki lashed out with her sword, but Chang saw this and blocked it with the chain of his wrecking ball.

"I say! 'The Koehan' doesn't take too lightly to people attacking from behind!" Chang said as he raised his weapon to bring it down and crush Hibiki.

Hibiki did what anyone would do. She let out an 'Eep!' and ran off.

**(Sound Booth) **

Shadow, Astaroth and Aila had just gotten settled into the Sound Booth so they could start their job. Currently, they were trying to find some music for fighters that didn't request any.

"Who's next on the list?" Aila asked.

Shadow looked at the list of fighters. "Looks like that Lion kid from the Virtua Fighter node." He smirked. "Looks like he didn't request a theme song."

Astaroth scratched his head. "So what could we put on for him?"

Aila suddenly came up with an idea and grabbed a CD from a stack. "I think I've got it!"

**(The Arena) **

"**LION RAFALE!" (VF) **

Lion came out from behind the curtain and walked down to the arena, waving to the crowd. He was feeling a little better about not requesting any theme song judging by what happened to Sonic, Maxi and Borus.

"_Blue shadows a venetian parade" _

"_Eyes on a starlet who was yet to be made" _

"_He had thin blue lips and a finger-less glove" _

"_He was a hunter for a prey to put his prints on" _

Lion froze as he listened to Steve Taylor's 'Svengali' coming from the speakers. Looking at the Sound Booth, he saw three distinctive figures laughing their behinds off.

"_Oh! Svengali!" _

"_Wa-ha-ho! Svengali!" _

"_Wide eyes, mesmerize! Ain't he clever?" _

"_Wa-ha-ho! Svengali!"_

The young man sighed and continued down to the arena. Leaping in, he ran at Falco Lombardi. His first thought was to go interrupt the duel between King and Bruce, but he had seen what had happened to those that had already done that.

Falco saw Lion coming and smirked. "So, the little prettyboy wants to challenge me, eh?"

Lion narrowed his eyes and lashed out his palm. "Don't call me a prettyboy!" He shouted. "I'm a lot better than those other 'prettyboys' that came out and lost!"

"We'll see about that." Falco smirked.

"**EDGE!" (S3) **

The red-haired young man stormed out from the curtain, looking extremely-ticked off. But it wasn't because of something that happened backstage, no. It was because of what was currently happening on his back.

"Come on, you redhead loser!" Edge's sword, the Star Dragon Sword, shouted at its owner. "If you want to be better than that sloth that USED to wield me, you have to at least LOOK good! The part on your hair is completely wrong! Your outfit makes you look like a girl! Get a tan, you moron! Your face is so white that you look like a ghost!"

Finally having enough of the Star Dragon Sword's ramblings, Edge grabbed it and pulled it around to look at him.

"Look, pal! If you don't shut up this instant, I'm going to thrown you into the arena on your own and see how long you fare without me!" Edge shouted at his sword.

The Star Dragon Sword surprisingly quieted down, as if processing what Edge had just said.

Much to the dismay of Edge's sanity, the Star Dragon Sword started heaping insults again. "The colour of your hair is all wrong! The shade of red should be darker than that! Wear a jacket, loser! That yellow thing you're wearing isn't very becoming on you! And furthermore-"

Edge screamed in fury as he hurled the Star Dragon sword into the arena. The sword continued flying until it lodged itself in Scorpion's back, about five inches below Watari's ninja star. Scorpion curiously pulled the sword from his back and looked it over. He then saw Edge jump into the arena and narrowed his white eyes.

"Is this your sword, pal?" Scorpion asked coldly.

Edge sighed. "Yes, but I really wish that it wasn't."

The Star Dragon looked up at Scorpion. "What kind of ninja wears yellow? It doesn't shadow you at all! Your outfit looks way too plain! The least you could do is accessorize! And those eyes! What the heck are you supposed to be? Some kind of undead freak loser or something?"

Scorpion realized that Edge was going through enough torture as it was, and decided to let the boy live. He handed the Star Dragon Sword back to him. "I pity you, boy."

"**MUSCLE POWER!" (WH) **

The American wrestler came out from behind the curtain and raised his hand into the air. **"I'M NUMBAH ONE!" **

Silence.

Muscle Power curiously looked around. "I said…" He raised his hand again. **"I'M NUMBAH ONE!" **

Again, silence. Muscle Power looked up into the crowd. "Well? Aren't you guys going to say that YOU'RE numbah one?"

"Are you kidding?" Brian Battler asked. "That joke got so old so fast that it wasn't even funny!"

"Yeah, man!" Mickey Rogers said from his seat beside Brian. "I mean, who are we kidding? Any fighter in the arena could dispose of us in five seconds!"

Muscle Power grumbled as he continued walking down to the arena.

Brian looked at Mickey. "You really know that we're numbah one, right?"

Mickey nodded.

**(Hotel; Lounge) **

Eiji Kisaragi's vision slowly returned to him as he rocked his head back and forth. Slowly, he saw himself staring into a ceiling with lights all over it.

"Great! You're awake!"

The sudden sound of the voice almost made Eiji fall off the sofa he was sitting on in surprise. Looking at the voice, he saw Julia Chang getting up from a chair and walk over to him.

"Wh-Who are you?" Eiji asked.

"Julia Chang. I was at the vending machines when you collapsed at my feet." Julia replied.

"Oh, yes. I remember now." Eiji rubbed his head. "Where am I?"

"In the lounge. After you passed out, I brought you here so you could be comfy until you woke up."

"Well, I appreciate the gesture. Really, I do." Eiji said.

"Say. What on Earth happened to you that could cause you to pass out like that?" Julia asked as she sat down on the couch beside Eiji.

Eiji sighed and looked down. "It's sort of a long story."

"I got time." Julia shrugged. "I've already been eliminated from the tournament, so I don't really have anywhere to go."

The purple-clad ninja nodded. "Okay. I was in the gym, fighting those two ninja wannabes Gozu and Mezu."

Julia nodded. "From the Kizuna Encounter node? Yeah, I heard they were pretty much wannabes too. Why were you fighting them?"

"They thought that they were good enough ninjas to take someone like me on." Eiji replied. "Needless to say, I totaled them, but I cut off a piece of each of their gauntlets. I picked up both pieces and suddenly I get engulfed in pain." Suddenly, Eiji reared back and shouted in pain as his left side was covered in a red aura and his right side a blue aura. Julia backed off and stared in shock at Eiji until the auras died down.

"What could be causing this?" Julia asked.

Eiji shook his head. "I don't know. It happened as soon as I picked up those gauntlet pieces."

Julia grabbed Eiji arm and pulled him off the couch. "Then we'd better find someone that can help you. A magic user, perhaps."

"But who could we get?" Eiji asked. "The best mage I can think of is Rose from the Street Fighter node, and I don't know if she's anywhere near here!"

"There must be someone else!" Julia insisted. "There HAS to be! Who else can you think of?"

Eiji pondered for a few seconds. "The only other mage I can think of is that Rasputin fellow that came with the World Heroes bunch."

Julia nodded. "Let's go find him, then."

The purple-clad ninja stared at Julia in shock. "You're actually willing to help me?" He asked.

"Of course!" Julia said. "No one deserves what you're going through!"

Eiji stared in amazement as he followed Julia out of the Lounge. No one had ever cared this much about him before. He'd have to thank this woman later.

**(Jeffry McWild's Stage) **

The ocean waves splashed gently onto the sandy beach as seagulls flew overhead. Aside from Jeffry's small house, the only man-made thing on the beach was a square platform to use as an arena.

Craig Marduk groaned and rubbed his head as he slowly got to his feet and looked around, seeing where he was.

The giant man sighed. "Well, at least that stupid, old ape didn't-"

*THWACK!*

Marduk staggered forward, the back of his head sporting a new injury. Turning around, Marduk could only muster one sentence.

"No. Freaking. Way."

Although Marduk refused to believe it, there he was. Cranky Kong was standing there, slapping his cane into his hand.

"Ready for your lessen in manners, sonny?" Cranky asked as he slowly approached Marduk.

Marduk growled. "You've been causing me enough trouble, gramps! If it weren't for YOU, I'd still be in the bleachers, enjoying the tournament!" He pointed accusingly at Cranky.

"Someone would have thrown you out sooner or later because of your constant put-downs directed at us elderly people!" Cranky retaliated.

Marduk put up his fists. "You ready for the last fight of your life, old man?"

Cranky smirked. "Ladies first."

**(The Arena) **

"**SHEN WOO!" (KOF) **

A KOF newcomer, Shen Woo came out from behind the curtain to a fair amount of cheering. Apparently, people liked him way better than they liked Ash Crimson.

Deciding to give his fans a good show, Shen Woo punched his own face several times to clear his head and ran down to the ring.

Upon entering, the boxer was wondering which person to go for first. He quickly spotted Heavy D! and smirked.

"Heh. It's only fitting that a boxer fights another boxer." Shen Woo figured as he ran at D!.

D! turned to see Shen Woo charging at him and his eyes snapped open. "WHOA!" Thinking in self-defense, D! lashed out an R.S.D., nailing Shen Woo in the face.

"**ELECTRO!" (MC) **

"_We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue!"_

"_And then we'll take it higher!"_

"_We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue!" _

"_And then we'll take it higher!" _

The green-clad supervillain smirked evilly as he walked down to the ring. The pieces for Bison's plan were slowly falling into place. Already, they had captured two of the targets, and were well on their way to kidnapping the third. Electro was so wrapped up in his twisted thinking that he didn't notice his new theme song, 'Electric Avenue' by Tait.

"_We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue!"_

"_And then we'll take it higher!" _

"_We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue!" _

"_And then we'll take it higher!" _

Reaching the arena, Electro jumped in, having no problem considering the fact that the ropes weren't around the arena. Lee Chaolan was supposed to come out in the next section. Electro could ask for an update then. All he had to do was survive the current section.

Unfortunately for Electro, Chang Koehan spotted him and instantly brightened.

"An evildoer!" Chang shouted in glee. "Finally! Someone 'The Koehan' can have no mercy on!"

Instantly forgetting about his current feud with Hibiki (much to the young woman's relief), Chang stampeded in Electro's direction, kicking up dust as he ran.

Electro tried casting lightning bolts to bring the giant man down, but found that they had no effect on him. "Crap!" Electro turned and ran.

Everyone was paying attention to Chang's newfound speed so much that they didn't notice the spotlight shining on the entrance curtain again.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**SIX**!"

"**LARCEN TYLER!" (Eternal Champions) **

The 1940's gangster came out to a loud cheer (although it wasn't as big as Scorpion's). As 40's slums music came through the speakers, Larcen spun his grappling hook in his hand and walked down to the ring, the brim of his fedora almost covering his eyes.

Larcen couldn't believe his luck. He had actually been invited to partake in this tournament, allowing some publicity for the Eternal Champions node. If he could manage at least ONE elimination, the popularity for the Eternal Champions would increase a lot.

Leaping into the arena, Larcen quickly saw Scorpion in a fight with Edge and starting to lose. Larcen quickly ran over and grabbed his grappling hook.

Upon reaching the fight, Larcen lashed out his weapon, slamming it into Edge's face, knocking the young man away from Scorpion.

Scorpion nodded at Larcen. "Thanks, Larcen. It's good to see you back in the action."

"Thanks, buddy." Larcen replied. He looked around at all the fighters. "Come on! Let's show these guys what it's like fighting with a grappling hooks!"

Scorpion smiled darkly from underneath his mask. "Now you're talking my language!"

"**LUCIA!" (S3) **

Lucia, the Karayan chief, received a mixed reaction from the crowd. The cheers were because she was one of the most powerful characters in Suikoden 3. The boos were because Lucia was Hugo's mother.

Pulling her weapon, a long whip, from her belt, Lucia ran down to the ring and leapt in.

Lion Rafale knocked Muscle Power away and turned to see Lucia come in. "No offense, but how old are you, lady?"

"Um…late 30's." Lucia replied honestly. "Why?"

Lion shrugged. "No reason. Your white hair just makes you look old."

*SNAP!*

Lucia cracked her whip again, striking Lion in the knee a second time. As Lion hopped around on one foot, holding his knee, Lucia stared ahead in shock, feeling her hair. "Does my hair REALLY make me look THAT old?"

"Oh, yeah." Nei nodded from aside.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Lee Chaolan ran down the hallway, trying to outrun his pursuer, Rainbow Mika. Ever since he had run from that room on floor 30, Lee had run all the way around the hotel and was now in the dome. Lee was entering the arena in the next section, anyway. He would be able to lose Mika then.

Looking back, Lee saw that Mika was gone. There was no one chasing him anymore, and the only thing the silver-haired prettyboy could see was the doorway at the end of the hallway.

Lee stopped running and sighed in relief. "I lost her." He said.

The middle-aged man turned a corner and was instantly greeted by a backhanded slap to the face. Lee staggered back, looked ahead and saw Rainbow Mika flying at him, hip-first.

Mika slammed her hip into Lee's face, knocking him into the wall. R. Mika landed on the floor, got up and walked over to Lee.

"Okay, pal! You're telling me everything you know about this plot!" Mika shouted at him.

Lee smirked. "I think not." Shoving his foot forward, he caught Mika in the face, knocking her away from him.

Mika landed on her back and quickly sprang to her feet again. She quickly saw Lee getting to his feet. "Face it, Chaolan!" Mika said. "I'm a lot faster than you are! There's no escape!"

Lee nodded with a smirk as he got into his stance. "There IS one escape: I go through you."

Mika got into her stance, narrowing her eyes. "So, I finally get a solo fight, eh? Well, this is going to be quick."

**(The Arena) **

"**LEI WULONG!" (T5) **

The Hong Kong cop came out from behind the curtain and ran down the ramp leading to the arena. Dressed in his police outfit, Lei reached for his gun as he jumped headfirst into the arena.

Lei quickly spotted Chang chasing Electro and too action. Pulling out his gun, Lei aimed it at the two. "Fweeze!" He shouted.

The cop fired a bullet, and it struck the canvas only inches in front of Chang's foot. The oversized man looked at Lei and beamed.

"Greetings, fellow freedom-fighter!" Chang greeted. "You don't suppose you could assist 'The Koehan' in eliminating this criminal scum, do you?"

Lei just stared. "Uh…Sure. Why not?"

In all honesty, Lei was actually aiming at Chang, but he wasn't about to let the giant man know that.

"**ANDY BOGARD!" (KOF) **

The younger Bogard brother was thinking heavily as he walked down the ramp leading to the ring. Ever since arriving at the dome, Andy had been feeling a very dark vide coming from somewhere in the dome. At first, Andy thought that it was just something he ate, but now the vibe was just getting darker. Andy was confident that something was going on now, but no one he talked to really seemed to believe him.

Andy jumped into the arena and landed on his feet gracefully. Looking around, Andy decided to find a villain to try and get answers from, and quickly spotted Electro, still being tailed by Chang Koehan and now Lei Wulong. Andy ran in to help the two distinctive figures chase Electro down.

Electro looked up as he ran. "WHY ME?" He screamed.

"**LINK!" (SSB) **

The second of SSB's biggest stars came out to an insanely large cheer. His theme song, the classic Legend of Zelda theme, came from the sound booth (only because Shadow and co. couldn't find any other song to change it to). Link drew the Master Sword and ran down to the ring.

Mario had just been eliminated, and he had managed three eliminations. Link was hoping that he could do better and hopefully prove that he was better than the portly plumber.

Hibiki saw the Hero of Time jump into the arena. "At last! Someone with a sword!" She ran over to him. "Excuse me, sir!"

Link turned. "Yes?"

"Ever since I entered the arena, I've been waiting for someone with a sword to come in so I could have a fair duel." Hibiki replied. "If it isn't too much to ask, I'd like to challenge you."

Link nodded. "Okay. Let's see how well you fight with a sword."

"**JIN CHONSHU!" (FF) **

The younger Jin twin, Chonshu, came out from behind the curtain and ran down to the ring. The red-clad young-looking man was feeling good. Because of the little contest he and Chonrei had set up before the tournament started, Chonshu only needed to score two eliminations to beat Chonrei's one.

Chonshu entered the arena and looked around for a target. Electro had three people chasing him now, and Chonshu didn't really feel like making it four. He quickly eyed the pair of Scorpion and Larcen, whom were double-teaming anyone that got in their way.

Rolling up his sleeves, Chonshu saw the two Mystery Fighters as a challenge and ran at them.

"And now, the final fighter of this section…"

"**RYU!" (SFA3) **

In the Eliminated Seating, Sagat rubbed his chin as he watched Ryu run down to the ring. In all honesty, Sagat was hoping Ryu would at least got one elimination, which would tie with Sagat. The tall man would hate to see Ryu get eliminated without taking anyone out first. He silently cheered Street Fighter's poster boy on.

Ryu leapt into the arena and looked for a challenge. From what he saw, he was the only Street Fighter in the arena, as Dee Jay had been eliminated only minutes ago. He decided on Falco Lombardi, running over to him.

Falco saw the Street Fighter coming and drew his blaster. Ryu saw this and quickly launched a fireball at the bird. Falco fired three shots from his blaster, but the fireball nullified all three and still continued on, finally slamming into Falco's face.

The blue falcon rubbed his face as he looked at Ryu. "You wise guy!" Falco said. "You're in for it, now!"

Ryu simply stared at Falco, his expression unchanging. "I merely see you as a challenge. Not a threat." He got into his stance. "Now, it is time to prove that."


	15. Section Six Results

**(The Arena) **

"Why don't you think for once, you loser! Do I have to do everything around here that concerns the two of us? What a lousy attack! I could do ten times better than that and I don't have any hands!"

Again, Edge pulled the Star Dragon Sword in front of his face and looked at it. "You may not have any hands, but you have the biggest mouth I've ever come across!" The redhead roared.

The Star Dragon Sword paused, looking at Edge with an odd glare. "…Yeah. Sooooo?"

Edge looked up and screamed in fury.

Larcen Tyler and Scorpion stopped double-teaming for a second to look at the redhead. Larcen looked at his undead ninja friend. "Should we go put him out of his misery?"

Scorpion shook his head. "The way his sword is arguing with him, I don't have the heart to give him any more torment." He replied.

The 40's cat burglar shrugged. "I guess you're right." He said. "Who knows? Maybe all that shouting will make him spontaneously combust."

Suddenly, a green-clad figure flew past the two Mystery Fighters, screaming in terror. About half a second later and three completely different figures flew past Larcen and Scorpion, all of them chasing the evil villain down.

Electro looked back. **"WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?"** He screamed.

Chang Koehan, still under the guise of 'The Koehan' smirked as he continued to jog. "You are a villain. 'The Koehan' will not stop until all villains are defeated!"

"Uh…What he said." Lei Wulong added simply.

Andy Bogard had a slightly better reason. "Ever since coming here, I've felt a strange, evil presence." He explained. "I know you know something, and I want to find out what's going on."

Chang looked down at Andy in surprise, but neither stopped running. "You have sensed an evil presence?" He asked. "Interesting. 'The Koehan' must do what he can to find out more about this."

Andy looked at Chang in shock. "Chang, when did you become a superhero, anyway?"

Chang looked around nervously as he ran. "Uh…'Chang'? I don't know any 'Chang'. I am 'The Koehan', evil's worst nightmare."

Andy shook his head. He knew by now that something must have happened to Chang before he came into the arena, but he decided not to press the matter any further. "Let's just take this guy down and find out what he knows."

Chang grinned. "Let's do that!" He looked down at Lei. "Are you with us, fellow freedom-fighter?"

"Uh…Sure. Why not?"

The three continued to chase Electro down, none of the four fighters showing any signs of slowing down.

King and Bruce were still dueling. This duel was going far longer than the duel Bruce had had with Sagat in Section Two. So far, King was winning, because Bruce was weighed down by so much fatigue.

"You know, if you wish, we can stop fighting so you can rest up a little." King suggested as she lashed out a Trap Shot.

Bruce shook his head and blocked the projectile. "No. I'm fine, really."

"Are you sure?" King asked in concern. "You're looking pretty rough."

"Hey, never once have I stopped in the middle of a fight, unless someone is trying to interfere." Bruce explained. "I'm not about to stop now."

King sighed, realizing that Bruce wouldn't stop at all now. "Okay. Don't say I didn't give you the option."

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Lucky Glauber breathed heavily as he tore down a hallway, looking around desperately for Ryoko and Bridget, both of whom had run off to find Amy Guile when Lucky started the fight with Setsuna. Ever since defeating the dark assassin, Lucky had been searching for the two kids, hoping to find them before something happened.

"Come on, guys. Where are you?" Lucky asked. "You couldn't have gotten too far ahead of me."

Suddenly, after running for what seemed like an eternity, Lucky found his target. If he hadn't seen something blue and white going around a corner, he would have missed it, but luckily, he managed to catch it out of the corner of his eye.

Running around the corner, Lucky was relieved to see Ryoko and Bridget continuing to search for Amy Guile.

"Guys! There you are!" Lucky gasped as he stopped running and clutched his knees.

Ryoko and Bridget stopped running and turned to see Lucky standing there. Ryoko brightened. "Mr. Glauber! Did you manage to beat that guy?"

Lucky was too tired to say anything, so he simply nodded.

Bridget nodded. "That's great. Uh…Why are you so tired?"

"I was…Trying to…Find you guys…Before…Something…Happened to you." Lucky explained through his heavy breathing.

"Well, now we can continue searching for Miss Guile together." Bridget nodded.

"We'd better hurry." Ryoko said. "I think Mr. Glauber is supposed to enter the ring in a couple of sections."

**(The Crowd) **

RAX's eyes widened as he returned to his seat with popcorn. "Hey! What's Larcen doing in the arena? I didn't know he was in this thing!" He said.

Jetta shook her head at the cyborg kick boxer. "He's a Mystery Fighter. NO ONE knew he was in this thing."

RAX sat down and looked at the ring. "You think that maybe he could get an elimination?"

Jetta shrugged. "There's always the hope. Ever since he entered the arena he's been teaming up with that undead ninja friend of his from the Mortal Kombat node." She pointed at Scorpion. "I wonder if either of those two notice that Scorpion has a ninja star stuck in his back."

"How's the kick boxing duel going?" RAX asked, looking at Bruce and King.

"They've been going at it ever since King entered the ring." Jetta explained. "So far, I'd say she's winning." She looked at RAX. "Kinda makes me wonder how well you'd fare against one of them."

RAX sighed. "Let's face it. The only Thai fighter I'd be able to beat is that Shura character from the World Heroes node. Anyone else could mop the floor with me because none of us have seen work for years."

Again, Jetta shrugged. "Maybe next year, our whole node should enter this thing and see how we do."

RAX nodded. "Good idea, but we'd just need a lot of practice. Even the Eternal Champion should sharpen his skills." Looking out into the arena, RAX raised his fist. "Go get 'em, Larcen!"

**(The Arena) **

Muscle Power slowly got up and shook his head to get rid of the stars. It seemed like ever since Brian and Mickey said what they said when the American wrestler entered the arena, he was thrown off his game and wasn't doing as well as he thought he could.

Muscle Power looked around for someone to take on and saw the sword-duel between Link and Hibiki. Grinning, the Hulk Hogan lookalike charged at the two and let out his traditional battle cry.

"**I'M NUMBAH ONE!" **

Link and Hibiki had locked swords for what seemed like the tenth time when they heard a strange shout coming from behind Link. The Hero of Time looked over his shoulder and saw Muscle Power sprinting over.

Link shook his head and looked at Hibiki. "Shall we take care of this guy before we continue?"

Hibiki nodded. "That's fine with me."

In the blink of an eye, Link had pulled a lit bomb from a pouch on his back. Without even looking, Link rolled it behind him, in Muscle Power's direction. The American man stepped over the bomb just as it exploded, sending the egotistical wrestler into the air.

Hibiki smirked and drew her sword. "It's my turn."

The young girl ran past Link and pulled her sword back, waiting for Muscle Power to come within range. Once he did, Hibiki lashed out, taking a good bite out of Muscle Power's energy. The American man fell close to the ground, but Hibiki prevented him from touching the canvas by an upwards swing, sending the wrestler into the air again.

Hibiki quickly ran to the other side of the falling wrestler and looked at Link. "You take a shot at him!" She called out as she lashed out her sword again, firing Muscle Power in Link's direction.

The Hylian quickly whipped out his boomerang and threw it at Muscle Power, making it bounce off his head. Link caught the boomerang and ran in close for some melee attacks. Running underneath Muscle Power, Link swung the aster Sword three times above his head, juggling Muscle Power even more.

As the American man fell closer to the canvas, Link crouched low and leapt into the air, spinning around wildly with his sword outstretched.

The Spinning Sword attack was way too much for Muscle Power to handle, and the wrestler was sent off the canvas and out of the arena.

"And the award of 'Longest time in the arena without touching the ground': Muscle Power." SSBFreak's voice came through the speakers.

Muscle Power landed in Blast Corps. Unfortunately, he landed on the roof of a building that one of the giant mechs was about to powerbomb.

Back in the arena, the trio of Chang, Andy and Lei were still chasing Electro down, trying to get some answers from him.

"Halt, evildoer!" Chang ordered. The phrase that came from his mouth was something that Andy thought he'd never hear coming from Chang.

Electro looked back and thrust his hand out, firing several bolts of lightning from his fingers at his pursuers. Although Chang and Andy saw this and leapt to the side, Lei wasn't so lucky and got a severe surge of electricity to the leg.

"I've had just about enough of this guy." Andy growled. Lashing out his hand, Andy fired a blue projectile at Electro. The projectile made contact with Electro's back, stunning him for a second. Andy lunged forward and spun several times before slamming his foot into the electric supervillain, pinning him to the ground.

"Well done, Mr. Bogard!" Chang laughed as he and Lei ran over. "I never doubted your skills for a second!"

"Okay, pal!" Andy said as he looked into Electro's eyes. 'You're going to tell us what you know! What are you planning!"

"Okay! Okay! I'll talk!" Electro said, not really wanting another chase to happen. "Look, all I know is that we villains are kidnapping specific targets around the dome."

"Who ARE the targets, exactly?" Lei asked, pulling out a notebook and pen.

"I don't know!" Electro insisted. "Bison's the head honcho, not me! He doesn't tell anyone who's next until he's gets to the name on the list!"

Andy narrowed his eyes. "I knew something was up." He said. He then looked at Chang. "He's told us all we know. You can go back to your 'beating the tar out of him' if you like."

With that, Andy stood up and walked off to find another fight. Electro looked up into the eyes of an angry Chang Koehan.

"You criminal scum." Chang spat as he grabbed Electro by his outfit. "Your plan will NOT succeed! 'The Koehan' will see to that."

With one hand, Chang threw Electro over his shoulder, making the lanky supervillain fall out of the arena.

Of all the places an electric fighter would want to land, over the ocean of Ecco the Dolphin wasn't one of them.

Lucia cracked her whip again, hoping to deliver some damage to her opponent, Lion Rafale. Lion, however, saw the attack coming and sidestepped as Lucia's whip struck nothing but the air beside him.

"You're an annoying little pest." Lucia said.

"Yeah, well if your opponent was trying to strike you with a whip, you'd want to avoid the blow, too." Lion replied.

"Well, you can't avoid my attacks forever, you know." The Karayan chief said confidently.

Lion smirked. "You're right about that."

The young man charged forward and struck Lucia's stomach with an open-palmed punch, knocking the older woman away.

Landing on her side, Lucia looked up to see Lion walking over to her. Not wanting to be eliminated this quick (much like her son, Hugo), Lucia lashed out her whip again, hoping to take out Lion's feet from under him.

Lucia's attack was a success, and Lion was knocked to the ground. Lucia quickly got up and looked down at Lion.

"You let your guard down, boy." Lucia said. "You should never let your guard down in a tournament like this."

Again, Lion smirked. "Good advice." He said, lashing out his foot, tripping the Karayan chief.

As Lucia got to her feet, Lion noticed that she was dangerously close to the edge of the arena. Another smirk floated across his face as he ran forward, straight at the Karayan woman.

Lucia looked forward and pulled her whip back to try and do some more damage, but Lion was quicker. The younger man pushed Lucia's shoulders, making her stagger back. Lucia quickly realized that she was too close to the edge of the arena, as she was now falling off the canvas.

Lion smiled slyly as Lucia vanished into a portal. "You let your guard down." He repeated Lucia's words. "You should never let your guard down in a tournament like this."

Lucia landed in SSX 3. Unfortunately, she landed at the top of the snow-capped mountain and started rolling down, creating a huge snowball around her. Just when it looked like she wouldn't stop until she reached the bottom, she hit a rock, making the snowball explode.

Lucia slowly stood up. "This is why I hate snow."

**(Dome; Storage Room) **

Jin Chonrei opened the door to the Storage Room and walked in, Vivian following him. Neither of them had any worry of anyone spotting them because Chonrei's footsteps were light and Vivian didn't have feet anyway. Both of the young-looking fighters looked around curiously.

"Chonrei." Vivian said as she looked at her friend. "Why are we here? I thought we were supposed to go to the SSB Locker Room to find Ness and Mewtwo."

"We were." Chonrei explained. "But I recently felt a strong burst of dark aura coming from this room, and when I sense something like that, it either means that someone's in here or someone's about to enter the room." He looked around the dark room. "But there's no one here."

Vivian gasped. "Then that means that-"

Suddenly, the two could hear the doorknob to the room being twisted, meaning that someone was about to enter. Realizing that there wasn't anywhere Chonrei could get to in time to hide, Vivian did the only thing she could think of.

She lunged at Chonrei and latched onto him.

"Wha?" Chonrei stammered. "Vivian! What're you doing?"

Chonrei's question was answered when Vivian sunk into the floor, taking Chonrei with her. Both young-looking fighters were now nothing more but a circular shadow on the floor. And just in time, for as soon as they were in the floor, the door opened, allowing two figures to come in.

"Okay, so let me get this straight." Vega said as he walked into the room. Setsuna followed him and shut the door behind him. "Not only did you fail to kill that basketball player, but he pounded you into the floor."

"He caught me off guard." Setsuna grunted. "I've never seen a fighter like that guy before. I had no idea what to expect." He narrowed his eyes at Vega. "But from what I heard, you weren't exactly making a lot of progress. In fact, I heard that Geese Howard actually tried to stop Bison."

Vega nodded. "He did, but I managed to knock Geese out from behind. A little of Bison's mind-control and Geese should help us again."

"Well, I came back from Floor 30, where I was supposed to report back to King Lion." Setsuna continued. "Not only did his team get wasted, but Rainbow Mika chased Chaolan off to get some answers. Our plan may end up not being such a secret anymore."

"I guess the only thing we can do is hope that no one else figures out the plan." Vega stood in silence for a few seconds. "Who's next on our list of targets, again?"

"After we get Amy Guile, our next target is Jan, that little brother King has. As long as she's still in the arena, we'll have no problem nabbing her brother."

Vega nodded again. "Okay. Let's get going."

With that, Vega and Setsuna left the Storage Room. Once the door shut behind them, Vivian rose from the floor again, bringing Chonrei up with her.

Vivian looked at Chonrei. If he could've seen her eyes, he would have seen that they were wide with shock. "Did you hear that, Chonrei?" She asked.

Chonrei nodded. "Yes. Those guys are planning to kidnap King's little brother." He looked at the Shadow Siren. "It looks like the SSB Locker Room is going to have to wait. We need to find Jan before those two do."

Vivian nodded. "I'm behind you all the way, Chonrei! Let's go!"

As Chonrei and Vivian left the Storage Room, they could only wonder what the heck happened to Amano.

**(Somewhere in the Dome) **

Amano screamed as he continued to slide down another hallway in the Dome. No matter what he had hit, nothing would stop him. So far, Amano had hit two janitors, a journalist, a dessert cart, Wan Fu and Glass Joe from the Punch Out node. Even after colliding with all of these things, the effects of Bowser bowling the pink-clad man were still there.

Taking a break from his screaming in terror, Amano looked up to see where he was going next. He suddenly saw a huge, glass window coming up. Amano's eyes snapped open.

Amano went through the window headfirst and fell four stories into a dumpster. After landing inside the dumpster, Amano slowly climbed up and barely managed to climb out before falling out and landing on the sidewalk, directly on his back.

Laying on his back, Amano looked ahead. "I hope you appreciate the fact that I'm doing all of my own stunts."

**(The Arena) **

Larcen spun his grappling hook above his head, slamming it into the side of Edge's head. The redhead boy staggered away, the Star Dragon Sword heaping further insults on him.

"I'm telling you, if we don't get to that boy, his sword will." Larcen shook his head.

Scorpion nodded. "I never really feel sorry for anyone, but I must say that I pity that boy." The ninja replied.

"Hey, you!"

Scorpion and Larcen turned to see Jin Chonshu coming over. "You know? I'm surprised at how many people seem to call me 'hey, you'." Larcen said. "I really hate being among the obscure."

Chonshu cracked his knuckles and ran at the two Mystery Fighters, a sly smirk on his face.

"What's his problem?" Scorpion asked.

Larcen shrugged. "Maybe he has a thing against gangsters and ninjas." The cat burglar suggested. "I mean, let's face it. We aren't exactly the best-looking guys around."

"Yeah." Scorpion nodded thoughtfully. "You may be right."

"You want me to take him, or do you want to?" Larcen asked.

"You go ahead." Scorpion replied. "I've already gotten an elimination."

Larcen nodded and quickly reached into his trench coat. Lashing out his hand, Larcen fired a Sai at Chonshu, hoping to slow him down.

Chonshu saw the Sai coming and quickly kicked the air, striking the weapon. The Sai sailed off course, going out of the arena (where it punctured Needle Man in the Megaman node).

Larcen lunged forward and crouched low, lashing out his grappling hook. The weapon slashed across Chonshu's stomach, but it didn't really do much to damage him. The younger Jin twin thrust his fist out, followed closely by his other fist. Larcen managed to avoid the first blow, but the second one caught him off guard, punching him in the chest. As Larcen staggered back, Chonshu shoved his foot into the burglar's stomach.

The 40's burglar clutched his chest and glared daggers at Chonshu. "You're really asking for it, punk." He said.

Chonshu shrugged. "Nothing personal, but I need to get more eliminations than Chonrei did if I want to win this contest that we're having." He replied.

Larcen's eyes narrowed. "You shouldn't have said that."

Scorpion watched as Larcen lunged forward, knee outstretched. His knee collided with Chonshu's face, making the young-looking fighter stagger back. Taking his chance, Larcen pulled out his grappling hook, swung it around a few times and tossed it up until it latched onto one of the light racks hanging above the arena. Leaping off his feet, Larcen swung at Chonshu and held his feet in front of him.

Larcen's feet slammed into Chonshu's chest with amazing power. This sent Chonshu flying back. Now, if there had been ropes around the edges of the arena, he would have been fine, but since there wasn't, Chonshu fell from the arena.

Retracting his grappling hook, Larcen suddenly looked around the crowd. "Is that RAX and Jetta I hear cheering?" He asked himself.

Chonshu landed in Goldeneye. He was so relieved that he didn't see Chonrei sitting in the Eliminated Seating to watch him lose that he didn't notice the gunfire going on behind him as Jaws fired a Moonraker Laser at Baron Samedi.

Back in the arena, Bruce ducked as King's foot sailed over his head again. Despite having a lot of fatigue, Bruce was definitely holding his own, although it looked like King was now winning the battle.

Bruce lunged his knee out as King leaned to the side, avoiding it. "You're amazing, King." He complimented. "You've lasted longer than any other Thai fighter so far."

"Not quite." King said. "You're the only other one. I don't know if I'll actually be able to match your skills here. You've lasted even longer than Jubei Yagyu. I think that you're going to last even longer."

"Well, I'm not sure about that, but thanks."

Both Thai fighters continued to duel until they heard a loud (yet very common by now) shout.

"Why don't you actually TRY to fight, wimp!" The Star Dragon Sword shouted as Edge ran over to Bruce and King with hopes of eliminating one of them. "You're so pathetic that-"

"SHUT UP!" Edge screamed at his sword as he ran at Bruce and King.

Bruce looked at King. "I'll take him." Although he looked like he was limping a little, Bruce walked in the direction of the oncoming Edge.

Just as Edge came close enough, Bruce thrust his knee out, slamming it into the redhead's face. Edge staggered back, holding his face, but quickly snapped out of his daze and lashed out with the Star Dragon Sword.

Bruce quickly dodged the attack and drove his foot into the side of Edge's head. King looked on as Edge was easy pickings for Bruce's kicks. Despite all the fatigue, Bruce continued to lash out kicks, forcing Edge closer and closer to the edge of the arena.

"You moron!" The Star Dragon Sword shouted. "You haven't even gotten an elimination yet and you're looking amazingly pitiful! If I was in the arena on my own, I would have demolished this guy by now without even breaking a sweat!"

Edge wobbled on the edge of the arena, trying to keep his balance, as he ignored the sword's insults.

Bruce shook his head. "I may as well put this poor guy out of his misery." He thought aloud.

The Thai fighter leapt into the air and slammed his foot into Edge's face, knocking the redhead off the edge of the arena, where he fell headlong into the vortex.

Edge landed in the Carmen Sandiego node. Because of his sword's constant insults, several policemen jumped him for 'disturbing the peace'.

In the arena, Heavy D! lashed out his fist, sending another R.S.D. at Shen Woo. The younger boxer swerved to the side, dodging the attack cleanly. The two boxers had been at it since Shen Woo had come into the arena and, despite D!'s slight fatigue, the battle was looking like an even fight.

Shen Woo lashed out his fists in a quick flurry of punches. Although D! managed to block the first few, the rest of the punches ended up getting through. D! staggered back, his guard gone.

The younger boxer smirked. "You're finished, man." Shen Woo smirked. "You've had your day back in 94. Maybe it's time to let another boxer, like me, take the spotlight."

D! narrowed his eyes. His shades had been broken long ago, allowing everyone to see his eyes. "You really think that you can beat me?"

Shen Woo nodded. "You have no chance, especially with the fatigue weighing you down. I give you about thirty seconds before I reduce you to begging me to eliminate you."

Heavy D! responded by slamming his fist into Shen's face, knocking the younger man to the ground. "I hate overconfidence." He muttered.

As Shen tried to stand up, D! continued the onslaught by grabbing him and throwing him over his shoulder. As Shen landed on the ground, D! lashed out his hand, sending several more energy streaks at the younger man.

Shen Woo slowly got to his feet and looked at his opponent. Heavy D! was charging at him.

"I've been waiting all night to do this move." D! muttered.

"Is D! doing what I think he's doing?" Unknown1's voice was heard.

"I believe so!" SSBFreak replied.

"D! Crazy!" D!, SSBFreak and Unknown1 shouted at once.

Using his most powerful move, D! attacked Shen with a rapid sequence of punches. The final punch sent Shen Woo flying out of the arena.

**(Jeffry McWild's Stage) **

Craig Marduk rubbed his chin as he slowly got into a sitting position. "Okay. So you're not such a pitiful fighter, but you're STILL way too old to-"

*THWACK!*

As Marduk rubbed his sore head, Cranky Kong stood aside, brandishing his cane. The old ape looked down at the large man. "You, sonny, are a disgrace to Vale Tudo fighting everywhere!" Cranky accused.

Marduk looked up at Cranky and narrowed his eyes. "What do you know about-"

Before Marduk could finish, Cranky had lifted him off the ground and performed a Vale Tudo grapple. Cranky released his opponent again and slammed his foot down on Marduk's stomach.

Marduk's eyes widened. "But…How?" He asked.

Cranky smirked as he got into a crane stance. "I'm the oldest video game character in existence." He explained. "I know every move and style there is to know."

"Oh, really?" Marduk challenged. "Prove it!"

The old ape got out of his stance and lashed out a hand. "Fire!"

Before the giant man had time to react, an explosion of fire sent him off his feet and into the air. His eyes widened in disbelief, Marduk landed on his back.

Cranky continued the attacks. "Hadoken!" The old ape shouted, shoving both hands in Marduk's direction, firing a very familiar fireball at the large man.

Marduk collapsed, pretty much defeated by now. Cranky, however, had one more trick up his sleeve. Holding his cane like a gun, Cranky aimed it at Marduk.

"PHOTON CANNON!"

Marduk's eyes sprang open, knowing what was coming next.

A huge beam of energy fired from Cranky's cane, plowing into Marduk with full force. Marduk was sent flying into the air, spun several times and landed on his stomach.

Cranky placed his cane on the ground in victory when he suddenly heard a light clapping. Looking at the little hut just off the arena, Cranky saw Shun Di clapping for him.

"Well done, Cranky, old friend!" Shun said. "You showed that young whippersnapper that we old folks still have a little fight left in us!"

"Ah, he had it coming anyway." Cranky laughed. "Say, what're you doing here anyway? This isn't your arena."

"Jeffry asked me to look after his place while he's at the tournament." Was the reply from the old man. "Hey, since you're here, how about a drink?" Shun asked the obvious, holding up a bottle of gin.

Cranky smirked. "Thanks. I could use a drink right about now."

Cranky passed by the defeated Marduk and joined his old friend for a drink. However, as they were doing so, Marduk was slowly regaining consciousness. He pushed himself onto his arms to prop himself up as he tried to stand up.

*THUMP!*

The next (and last) thing Marduk knew, a newly eliminated Shen Woo landed on his back, knocking him out again. Shen Woo looked around to find out where he was.

"Ah! Hello there, youngin!" Shun greeted.

"You up for a drink, sonny?" Cranky added.

Shen Woo smirked. "Sure!"

**(Dome; Security Room) **

"So you guys actually fought off a couple of creeps during a kidnapping?" Knuckles asked.

Master Chief nodded. "Yeah, but unfortunately, the one with the boy got away." He rubbed the back of his helmet. "We honestly don't have any idea where they went."

Joanna Dark sighed. "We've tried searching for leads ever since we defeated those two. We've come up with absolutely nothing."

"Haven't you guys tried looking for the ones you defeated?" The red echidna questioned.

"We did." Samurai Goroh nodded. "We have found no traces of either Gannondorf or Yuber. From the way things stand, we'll have to wait until one of them gets eliminated from the tournament and stand by the Retrieval Room to wait for them to return."

"We may have had more of a chance if SOMEONE had decided to do more than argue with his tattoo." Joanna added, casting an accusing glare at Psymon.

Psymon simply smirked innocently. "It wasn't MY fault. I was simply defending you, Joanna!" He jerked his head in the direction of his shoulder. "Mr. Loudmouth here insulted your mother and I told him to shut it."

Before Joanna had time to rush at Psymon and wrap her fingers around his throat, the door to the room was suddenly kicked open. All five of the Security Officers looked at the door in time to see a severely ticked-off Eliza Masters storm into the room.

"Mrs. Masters?" Master Chief asked. "What seems to be the problem?"

Eliza glared at Master Chief. "You guys are supposed to be in charge of the security here!" She said. "My son left the audience to get a snack back in Section Two and he hasn't returned yet!" She held up a little book in her hand. "When I got to the vending machines, I found this: My son's autograph book!"

Master Chief, Joanna and Samurai Goroh looked amongst each other, a little worried about what Eliza would do if she found out her son had been kidnapped.

"Uh…Don't worry, Mrs. Masters." Goroh assured. "We'll find your son."

Eliza nodded. "Make sure that you do." She said coldly as she turned and stormed out of the room as quickly as she came in.

Knuckles shook his head. "Man. I'd hate to get on her bad side."

**(The Arena) **

King and Bruce continued to spar, neither of them showing any weakness. King lashed out two Venom Strikes at her opponent, hoping to take down his guard. Bruce blocked the first projectile, but the second one managed to get through and slam into his leg.

As Bruce quickly clutched his leg in pain, King drove her leg into his face, knocking him back. King quickly charged at Bruce and prepared to deliver a hard kick to push him from the arena.

However, Bruce snapped out of his daze in time to see King coming. "Oh, no you don't!" He said as he leapt into the air and arced himself in midair so King would run underneath him. King wasn't prepared for Bruce to jump and indeed flew underneath him, running towards the edge of the arena. King came to a screeching halt two feet from the edge of the canvas, barely managing to prevent herself from being eliminated.

Bruce landed on the ground and turned around to see King getting close to the edge of the arena. Deciding to end the duel, Bruce ran at King and prepared to kick her off the edge.

King quickly spun around and lashed out another Venom Strike, firing it at Bruce. Bruce saw this coming and blocked, but this allowed King to run from the edge of the arena, saving herself.

"I think it's just about time to end the duel." King said, breathing heavily.

Bruce exhaled ever heavier. "Yeah. One of us needs to go."

King smirked. "But it won't be me!" She said.

Bruce and King ran at each other and they each delivered a hard, high kick. The two fighters' feet connected with each other, canceling each attack out. The resounding force was powerful enough to create a loud boom that echoed throughout the audience.

Once the noise died down, each of the kick boxers lowered their respective feet. King felt a severe pain erupting from her leg and was reduced to limping on it, trying not to put too much weight on it. Bruce, however, collapsed to the canvas, the last of his energy used on that last kick.

King sighed. "You were an amazing opponent, Bruce." She complimented. "Maybe the next time we meet, we'll be evenly matched."

With that, King simply pushed Bruce off the edge of the canvas with her good foot. Bruce, way too exhausted to try and come back in, fell into the vortex.

Bruce landed in Street Fighter 1. He slowly got to his feet and looked around.

"Hey! Who the heck are you?"

Bruce turned to see Joe, a generic fighter, coming over.

"I don't recall giving you permission to step into my battle zone." Joe said.

Needless to say, even with all the fatigue weighing him down, Bruce demolished Joe in less than thirty seconds.

In the arena, Nei looked around. Due to the fact that Edge and Lucia had both been eliminated, the elf girl was once again the lone Suikoden fighter in the ring. She was tempted to go over and try to eliminate Lion Rafale, but stopped when she saw him dueling with Falco Lombardi. Knowing better than to interrupt a fight, Nei looked around, seeing if she could find any allies.

Nei quickly spotted Lei Wulong. She knew that he was a policeman, thus being an officer of the law. Deciding to go see if she could get his help, Nei started running in his direction.

Meanwhile, Falco zoomed through Lion, doing his Falco Phantasm. The attack slammed into Lion with enough force to make him airborne. The young man flew in midair for a bit before landing on his back.

Quickly jumping to his feet, Lion lashed out his palm, slamming it into the giant bird's face. Falco staggered back, rubbing his beak. The blue avian glared at Lion and grit his teeth.

"You're in for it now!" Falco growled. "It's time for me to stop holding back!"

Lion smirked. "I guess that means that I can, too."

Falco leapt into the air and dove at Lion in a downward kick. Lion quickly sidestepped the attack and watched as Falco struck the canvas beside him. Lion quickly grabbed Falco and tossed him over his shoulder. The hotshot of the Starfox Team landed roughly on his side, but quickly jumped to his feet and looked at Lion again.

Lion saw the anger in his opponent's eyes, smirked, and motioned for Falco to come on.

Falco drew his blaster and started firing shots at his opponent, hoping that one of the bolts would stun the young man. Lion, however, was proving that he was indeed incredibly flexible, dodging every single one of Falco's laser bolts with ease.

However, the laser bolts had to go somewhere, and that just so happened to be in the direction Nei was running in. The aqua-haired elf girl quickly found her trek to reach Lei more hazardous than she thought, as she was getting bombarded with red laser bolts.

Nei ducked as she ran, allowing a laser bolt to fly over her head. The elf girl only had a few more feet before she reached Lei…

Suddenly, a laser bolt slammed into Nei's back. Letting out a scream of pain, Nei flew forward, straight at Lei, whom turned to see her flying at him.

As much as Nei tried to stop herself, she couldn't. The elf girl collided with Lei, pushing the Hong Kong cop off the edge of the platform, where he fell into a vortex.

Nei landed on her stomach just in time to hear the announcement. Growling, Nei got to her feet, turned to look at Falco, the one that had fired the shot, and charged.

Scorpion was still double-teaming everyone with Larcen, taking down anyone that came upon the duo. The combined power from Larcen's Sai and Scorpion's grappling hook was enough to take anyone out, but by some amazing chance, neither of them had eliminated anyone since Larcen tossed Chonshu from the arena.

The undead ninja slammed his fist into Andy's head, knocking the younger Bogard away. However, once Andy flew off, Scorpion's line of sight saw Ryu walking over, his gaze remaining neutral.

"So, you wish to challenge me?" Scorpion chuckled. "This'll be quick."

"I HAVE come for a challenge from you." Ryu said, then looked at Larcen. "But I wish to do it without your friend helping you."

Scorpion looked at Larcen, who nodded. "No sweat, pal. You don't need me to take him out. I'll go find a fight with someone else."

The yellow-clad ninja nodded as he watched Larcen run off to start a fight with Heavy D!. This left nothing to stand in Ryu's way with fighting Scorpion.

The two warriors charged at each other, each delivering a hard punch. The two fists connected, making the other fist stop flying. As their two fists were still connected, Scorpion quickly slammed his other fist into Ryu's face, making the Martial Artist step away a few feet, holding the side of his face.

Ryu narrowed his eyes and pulled his hands back, gathering up some energy. "Hadoken!" He screamed, lashing out his world-renown fireball at his undead ninja opponent. The blazing projectile slammed into Scorpion's stomach, where it quickly burst apart. Shaking his head in annoyance, Scorpion lashed out his hand.

"**GET OVER HERE!"** He screamed (earning a loud cheer from the crowd). The familiar grappling hook fired from Scorpion's hand and soared at Ryu with amazing speed.

Now, this was exactly how Scorpion had eliminated Basara in the last Section. However, Ryu was a much better fighter than the undead, blue-haired man, and saw the spear coming at him. Thinking amazingly quickly, Ryu dodged to the side and allowed the spear to pass by him. However, instead of letting it continue, Ryu grabbed the spear with one of his hands and allowed himself to be pulled in towards Scorpion.

Although Ryu's action confused Scorpion, he shrugged and figured that it made the elimination easier. However, something suddenly caught his eye when he saw Ryu's free hand start glowing with orange flame energy.

The young Martial Artist waited until he was close enough to Scoprion when he put his plan into action. "Shoryuken!" He shouted, throwing himself upwards with his fist outstretched, doing his famous Dragon Punch.

The punch successfully landed against Scorpion's chin, sending the undead ninja into the air. Ryu touched the ground and casually let go of Scorpion's grappling hook as he watched his opponent fly out of the arena and into the vortex.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Sagat nodded once in satisfaction. Hwoarang, sitting next to the giant man, saw this.

"Why are you so happy that he got an elimination?" The redhead asked. "Isn't he your sworn enemy?"

Sagat looked down at Hwoarang. "For Ryu and I to have a fair fight, we must be evenly matched. Because he has now gotten an elimination, he and I are now evenly matched, meaning that I must now resume my training for my rematch against him." With that, Sagat stood up and left the Eliminated Seating.

Hwoarang shook his head. "Whatever."

Scorpion, in the meantime, landed in Timesplitters: Future Perfect. In fact, he landed in a very dark and creepy mansion. Scorpion had about three seconds of silence.

"ZOMBIES!" Jo-Beth Casey shrieked from behind Scorpion.

The undead ninja turned in time to see Sgt. Cortez aiming a shotgun at him. The spaceman quickly fired the shotgun two times, making holes in Scorpion's outfit.

Scorpion looked down at his outfit, then back at Cortez, who seemed a little shocked to see that this particular zombie wasn't falling down.

"Uh…You may want to look back." Scorpion suggested.

Cortez turned in time to see the Deerhaunter burst out of a wall and charge at him and Jo-Beth.

Scorpion watched the battle and shrugged. "Ah. I'm here for ten minutes. I guess I can help these two out." He aimed his hand at the undead, mutated deer and shouted the predictable. **"GET OVER HERE!" **

**(The Muppet Show) **

Lei Wulong nervously stood on stage, standing behind a microphone. After appearing on stage, Lei was trying to impress the audience with whatever he could think of.

"Uh…" Lei said as he wiped his brow. "So, how about them Packers?"

The Hong Kong cop was greeted with silence.

"Uh…I just flew in from Hong Kong and…Boy, are my arms tired."

In the theatre box to the side of the stage, the two familiar hecklers stared at Lei, slack-jawed.

"I don't believe it." Statler said in shock. "This guy actually makes Fozzie seem…Good!"

Lei continued on with his act. "Uh…A funny thing happened on my way here tonight…I made it."

Statler and Waldorf started banging on the railing of their theatre box, chanting "We want Fozzie! We want Fozzie!".

Seeing that his comedic career had just ended before it even started, Lei quickly looked down at Dr. Teeth, whom was sitting in the orchestra pit. "Quick! Play 'Singing in the Rain'!"

Dr. Teeth shrugged and started playing the song. Lei waited until it was time for the words to come up, and when the time came, he opened his mouth.

But instead of singing, he gargled the words.

Standing aside the stage, Kermit the Frog shook his head. "Yeesh, this guy is a disgrace." Looking to the side, he beckoned for a certain fuzzy-haired thing to come over. "Animal, take care of the guy out there."

Animal looked out onto the stage and saw Lei gargling the song. Animal quickly went out onto the stage and went behind Lei. Opening his really big mouth, Animal was about to take a bite out of Lei's behind, but froze. Animal stood straight and looked up at Lei, whom still gargled on. Animal looked at the crowd and shrugged.

And then he started gargling the song with Lei. Lei looked down at him and wrapped an arm around Animal's shoulder as the solo turned into a duet. Kermit slapped his forehead.

**(Dome; Hallways) **

Lee Chaolan sighed as Rainbow Mika slammed him into the floor again. {Why me?} He asked. {What did I ever do to deserve such pain?} He was silent for a few seconds as Mika picked him up and threw him into a wall. {Okay. So I'm part of a huge plot being brewed amongst several feared villains. Big deal. Is that a reason to hate me?}

Needless to say, Lee was losing pretty bad. It wasn't enough that Mika was pounding him to a pulp. It actually wouldn't have been as bad if Mika wasn't enraged and determined to get info from him.

Mika hauled Lee to his feet. "Okay, prettyboy!" She shouted into Lee's face. "What do you know about this plot?"

Lee, despite all the pain he was in, managed a smirk. "You really think I'll tell you that easily?" He asked as he slammed his head into Mika's forehead, making her release him.

Holding her forehead, Mika staggered back and glared at Lee through her blue mask. "Let's see you fight!" She challenged. "I could use a laugh."

This time it was Lee to narrow his vision. "You've just crossed the line, missy." He said as he lunged forward and struck Mika's face with his fist. Before the female wrestler had time to recover, Lee slammed his other fist into her stomach. The silver-haired man finished the combo off with his trademark snap kick, quickly jabbing Mika's face with his foot.

Mika shook her head to clear her mind, then grit her teeth as she wrapped her arms around Lee's waist. Dan was counting on her to get info, and she wasn't about to let him down.

The female wrestler, still clutching Lee, bent over backwards, slamming her opponent into the floor. Mika got up, stood over her opponent and took her own legs out from under her, making her elbow connect with Lee's stomach.

Lee grunted in pain from the attack, but used his feet to push Mika off of him and send her flying away from him. Slowly standing up, Lee looked at Mika. "You're good, even after that battle we had in the Hotel." He smirked. "However, I am just warming up."

Mika smiled slyly. "Does that mean that I don't need to hold back any more?" She asked. Quickly turning around, Mika lunged at Lee, hip-first.

Lee's sly smile instantly vanished as Mika's hip slammed into his face, knocking him away a few feet. Mika landed gracefully on her feet and Lee fell onto his back.

Mika walked over to her opponent, picked him up and walked over to the wall. Lee's eyes snapped open, realizing what was going to happen.

The female wrestler pulled Lee back and repeatedly slammed Lee's head into the wall. After the fifth time, Lee was released, and landed on his stomach. However, he couldn't seem to be able to get up, which was a sign that he was defeated.

"Okay. I'll ask again." Mika bent over to look at Lee, her expression one of anger. "What do you know about all of this?"

"Attention: Will Lee Chaolan please get ready to enter the arena?" Unknown1's voice echoed through a speaker on the wall.

Lee smirked and brought his foot to Mika's face, pushing her away. He quickly got to his feet.

"As much as I'd love to stick around, I need to get to the arena." He turned to leave. "Ciao."

"Uh…While I'm at it, could Rainbow Mika also get ready to enter the arena?" Unknown1's voice continued.

Lee's eyes snapped open as he slowly turned to see Mika looking at him with an evil smirk. Suddenly, Mika broke into a sprint, charging at her opponent.

Lee quickly turned around and ran off, with Mika once again chasing after him.

**(The Arena) **

Hibiki slashed at Link, hoping to break his guard. The Hylian man, however, held up his shield, blocking the attack. Hibiki's sword hit the shield and she was pushed back a bit, and Link took the opportunity to pull out his bow and arrow. Aiming the arrow at Hibiki, Link pulled the string back and fired.

The young girl, however, saw the arrow coming, and lashed her sword out, cutting the projectile cleanly in half. Hibiki narrowed her eyes at Link. "That was a cheap shot!" She accused.

Link shrugged. "It's not MY fault you don't have any weapons besides the sword." He pointed out.

Hibiki growled and lunged at the Hero of Time, pulling her weapon back. Link put up the Master Sword to block the attack, but Hibiki was so mad that she actually broke through Link's defenses, slashing across 'fairy boy's' chest. Link staggered back and looked at the tear in his tunic.

"Do you know how much it takes to get something like this repaired?" Link asked Hibiki.

"No, but I don't really care." Hibiki replied.

Link and Hibiki rushed each other again, locking swords. The two struggled to gain the upper hand, but the other fighter was proving to be too much of a challenge to overtake.

Starting to feel frustrated, Link pushed Hibiki back and crouched low. "Prepare to be eliminated!" Link shouted as he broke into another Spinning Sword Attack, charging at Hibiki.

The younger girl, however, saw this coming and dropped to the canvas as Link's sword sailed over her head. Hibiki quickly slammed her sword holster into Link's ankle, which was a little hard to do considering the fact that he was still spinning.

Hibiki's attack broke Link out of his as he grasped his ankle in pain. Hibiki stood up and ran at Link, hoping to push him out of the arena.

Link, however, opened his eyes in time to see the young girl coming at him. Using quick thinking, Link bent over and allowed Hibiki to push through the air above him. Once Hibiki was above him, Link forced himself into a standing position, flipping Hibiki over his back.

The young warrior landed on her back and found herself looking up into Link's eyes.

"No offense." Link said as he picked Hibiki up. "You're good, but I seem to have gotten the upper hand."

With that, Link tossed Hibiki away, making her fall off the canvas and out of the arena.

Hibiki landed in Spy vs. Spy. Once the black and white spies saw her, they started a deathmatch where the winner would ask Hibiki out.

In the arena, Falco was still fighting Lion, unaware of the angry elf girl running over to them.

Falco smirked as he jumped at Lion. Once he got within range, the blue pilot activated his Reflector, bringing up an octagon of blue energy around him. However, because he was standing within range, Lion was slightly electrocuted.

Lion shook off the effects of the attack and looked at Falco. "You think pulling out all those gadgets and gizmos will make you win?"

"Well, I plan them to." Falco replied.

"Too bad!" Lion shouted. "Because I will-"

It was then that Nei decided to interfere. However, her feud was with Falco, so Lion wasn't needed. Nei quickly pushed Lion away and looked at Falco with anger.

"What's your problem?" Falco asked.

Nei pointed in the direction Lei had fallen out of the arena. "Your laser blast struck me in the back and made me push Lei Wulong out of the arena!" She replied.

"So?" Falco asked. "You got another elimination. You should thank me."

"I was TRYING to talk to him and get his help!" Nei replied. "I wasn't trying to eliminate him!"

The avian smirked. "So, you wanna fight to make up for it, huh?" He pulled out his blaster and spun it a few times in his hand. "Okay. This could be fun."

Nei lunged at Falco, who fired several shots from his blaster. Using her keen senses, Nei dodged the lasers and continued running at her opponent. Starting to get a little nervous, Falco put his blaster back and did another Falco Phantasm, lunging forward with amazing speed.

The elf girl saw this as well and leapt into the air just as Falco did the move. While in midair, Nei shoved her feet downwards, hoping to strike Falco as he passed underneath. Nei's timing was perfect, and Falco received a hard kick to the head, bringing him out of his attack.

Falco landed on his stomach, but quickly jumped to his feet. Turning around to face Nei, the birdman put up his fists and charged, sticking his head forward in a head-butt.

Nei tried to block the attack, but was unable to stop Falco from driving his head into her stomach. The wind almost completely knocked out of her, Nei flew back and landed on the canvas, looking up at the lights hanging from the ceiling.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Falco picked Nei up and gently tossed her from the arena.

Nei landed in some sort of forest. Looking around, she saw that she was alone.

Well, almost. An elf man saw her and instantly fell in love. He walked over to her and offered her a flower.

"My lady, you are the most beautiful elf woman I have ever seen." Legolas said. "It would be my pleasure if you would accept this flower."

Nei stood in silence for a few seconds before punching Legolas' lights out. She sighed. "If Toppo or Roland was watching that, I'd be so embarrassed." He said.

In the arena, Heavy D! punched Lacren away in time to see Andy Bogard coming over. "Hey, Bogard." D! greeted. "What's up?"

Andy looked around. "Apparently, a good amount." He replied. "I sense a dark force coming from somewhere in the dome. And before Chang eliminated him, Electro said that it was some sort of kidnapping plot."

D!'s eyes widened. "You know about this too?" He asked.

Andy raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"

"Yeah, man. Lucky and I are trying to get as much help as we can so we can take on these villains and find out more." Heavy D! replied.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that I'm not in this alone." Andy nodded. "So, what do you suggest?"

D! rubbed the back of his head. "I just don't know, man. I'm not a leader. Lucky, Ryoko and Bridget are trying to find Amy Guile before she gets nabbed, but I have no clue as to who the next target is." He confessed.

"Well, it's a start." Andy assured. "It's more information than what I had before. We just need to find one of the villains in charge and get him to confess some more."

"But who else is there?" D! asked. "There aren't any more villains in the arena, Electro's waiting to be brought back from his elimination node, and I have no idea where any of the others are."

"Well, I guess that means that I'm going to have to get out of here to find out." Andy said.

D! did a double take. "What? But…You haven't been in the arena that long. I'm starting to get more fatigued, so I dunno how much longer I'm going to last in here."

"You see, D!, that's just the point. If I get out of here now, I'll still be fresh enough to try and locate the villains."

D! sighed. "You're right. Okay, I'll stay in the ring and try to get more help."

Andy nodded. "Okay. Good luck." With that, the younger Bogard turned towards King, whom was resting from her fight against Bruce, and ran at her.

When King looked forward, she saw Andy running over to her with a neutral expression. At first, King was wondering if Andy was actually wanting to fight her, but was surprised when Andy leapt into the air and landed on King's shoulders. Jumping off King, Andy threw himself from the ring, giving King the elimination due to her touching him last.

Andy landed on a field in Harvest Moon. Deciding to save his energy, Andy sat down to start concentrating.

Back in the arena, King was looking out into the vortex Andy had gone into as it vanished. "What the heck was that about?" She asked as she turned around to look at the competition. Link, still feeling fresh, was advancing on her, hoping for a fight. A slightly-fatigued Falco had resumed his little spar with the fresher Lion Rafale. Deciding for a fair fight, Ryu had started a fight with the equally-fresh Larcen Tyler. Chang had several rips and tears in his outfit, as well as on his cap-mask, but still looked ready to take anything on. Heavy D! sat down for a second to regain some of his strength.

Suddenly, the hands floating above the arena starting laughing again, meaning that they were about to change the arena again.

**RESULTS**

LINK (SSB)

KING (KOF)

CHANG KOEHAN (KOF)

FALCO LOMBARDI (SSB)

RYU (SFA3)

LARCEN TYLER (EC)

LION RAFALE (VF)

HEAVY D! (KOF)

**(ELIMINATED)**

BRUCE IRVIN (T5)

NEI (S3)

SCORPION (MK)

LEI WULONG (T5)

SHEN WOO (KOF)

EDGE (S3)

HIBIKI TAKANE (LB)

JIN CHONSHU (FF)

ANDY BOGARD (KOF)

LUCIA (S3)

ELECTRO (MC)

MUSCLE POWER (WH)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Respekt Yer Elderz" **

CRANKY KONG (DKC) _**beats down**_ CRAIG MARDUK (T5)

"**Somewhere Over the Rainbow" **

RAINBOW MIKA (SFA3) _**outruns**_ LEE CHAOLAN (T5)

Eliminations: Link and King, 2; Chang, Falco, Ryu, Larcen, Lion, D!, Bruce and Nei, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: Bruce Irvin (6), Jubei Yagyu (4), Watari (4), Athena Asamiya (4), Heavy D! (4), Chang Koehan (4), King (4)

**How the Mighty Have Fallen:** With six eliminations, Bruce Irvin has finally been eliminated. Not bad for someone that hasn't seen canon work since Tekken 2.

**You Guys Must Hate Marduk…:** I was expecting Marduk to trounce Cranky and not the other way around. Apparently, you guys hate him for killing Armour King.


	16. Section Seven

**(The Arena) **

The eight remaining fighters stood still as they waited to see what surprises the two hands would have in store for them. Several of them quickly noticed that the ropes had regenerated as the hands circled each other in midair.

Suddenly, the hands started spinning even faster. Soon, they started forming a small twister, which quickly shot down to strike the center of the arena. Ryu, Larcen and Chang had to dive out of the way to avoid being hit.

Everyone watched in shock as the twister the hands were creating suddenly caused the whole middle area of the arena to spiral upwards up until reaching well more than twenty feet high. Due to the newfound spike being twisted as it was pulled, a thin ramp was created alongside of it, providing a pathway to the top of the tower.

"With this new 'tower', people can be tossed easily due to that spike being higher than any of the ropes around the edges of the arena!" SSBFreak's voice shouted.

Everyone quickly looked in the direction of the entrance ramp, because this meant that the next fighter was about to enter.

"**JIGGLYPUFF!" (SSB) **

The pink, round Pokemon came out from behind the curtain and merrily bounded down to the ringside, ready to please the crowd with her beautiful songs (if they weren't put to sleep by them). Leaping into the air, Jigglypuff inflated and floated into the arena.

Larcen turned in time to see the big ball of pink floating at him. Jigglypuff pulled one of her flippers back and slammed it into the gangster's face.

The 40's burglar stood straight, holding his face. "That hurt, you little ball of fluff!"

King rushed in and pushed Larcen over. "How could you say that to such an adorable little thing?" Bending over, King scooped Jigglypuff into her arms and hugged the little Pokemon.

**(Sound Booth) **

"Hey, Astaroth!" Shadow said as he held up a CD. "Play this for the next fighter!"

Looking at the CD, Astaroth looked down at Shadow in confusion. "What for?"

"Believe me. This kid deserves it."

The giant humanoid shrugged. "Okay. If you say so."

**(The Arena) **

"**SHINGO YABUKI!" (KOF) **

The young, confident fan of Kyo Kusanagi ran out from behind the curtain to a huge cheer. He waved to the crowd and signed a couple of autographs as he continued down the ramp.

"_I don't care what you're thinking, as you turn to me" _

"_Cause what I have in my two hands is enough to set me free" _

"_I can fight the feeling to resist it over time" _

"_But when it's just too much to take, you sneak up from behind" _

Shingo stopped going down the ramp as he heard 'What I'm Made Of' coming from the speakers. Looking up at the Sound Booth, Shingo saw Shadow giving him a thumbs-up. Shingo smirked and returned the gesture as he continued down the ramp.

"_Is it me? You say you're looking for?" _

"_Let me show you who I am and what I'm here for" _

The young man was, in honesty, a fan of the song, and paused to wait for the chorus to start. Shingo bobbed his head a couple of times just before the chorus started.

"_Try to reach inside of me!" _

"_Try to drain my energy!" _

"_Let me show you just what I'm made of!" _

"_Simple curiosity!" _

"_Try to take a bite of me!" _

"_Let me show you just what I'm made of!" _

"_NOW!" _

As soon as the chorus started, Shingo leapt into the arena and dashed at the fight between Falco and Lion.

"Shingo Kick!" Shingo shouted as he lunged forward in a flying kick.

Falco and Lion turned in time to see Shingo flying at them. Shingo slammed into Lion, knocking the young man away from Falco.

The avian shook his head. "Man. What next?"

Suddenly, something bounced off the back of his head. Falco looked over his shoulder and saw some sort of rubber juggling ball laying on the canvas. Curiously, Falco looked at the entranceway.

"**TOPPO!" (S3) **

The silent juggler stood outside the entrance curtain, tossing another juggling ball to himself. His gaze was focused on Falco, and his eyes narrowed in anger.

Gripping the juggling ball in his hand, Toppo raced down the ramp to meet up with the birdman. Falco had been the one to eliminate Nei, Toppo's friend, and the silent juggler was clearly out for revenge.

Leaping into the arena, Toppo broke into a run and charged at Falco as fast as he could. As he ran, Toppo hurled the juggling ball he was holding at the avian.

Falco ducked as the ball soared over his head. "You've got a serious problem, man!" He said to Toppo. "What is it?"

Toppo, obviously, didn't speak. He simply pulled another ball from his belt and hurled it at Falco. After throwing it, Toppo pulled his fist back.

**(Dome; Snack Bar) **

Julia Chang pulled Eiji Kisaragi into the Snack Bar and looked around. Due to the conflicting energies within the ninja's body, Eiji had almost collapsed in pain a couple of times, and had only continued on because Julia was practically dragging him, determined to find a cure for Eiji.

So far, Julia and Eiji had been around about half the dome looking for someone from the World Heroes node in hopes of finding Rasputin.

Julia sighed, as there wasn't anyone from the World Heroes gang in the Snack Bar. "Sorry, Eiji. No one's here either."

Eiji shook his head. "It's not your fault, Julia. We just need to look elsewhere." He, unlike Julia, noticed from some holes in the wall and broken tables that a fight had taken place in the Snack Bar recently.

"Where else could we look?" Julia asked. "No one in the World Heroes Locker Room knew where Rasputin is."

Eiji shrugged. "Well, there's always the Hotel." He suggested. "Maybe he's somewhere in there?"

"Maybe." Julia shrugged. "Let's try it."

Just as Eiji and Julia were about to leave the Snack Bar when a huge figure walked in. Eiji bumped into the giant man and looked up.

"Uh…Could you let us through?" Eiji asked.

"You step aside!" The Juggernaut said. "I don't step aside for anyone!"

Julia grabbed Eiji by the shoulder and pulled him aside. "Just let him through, Eiji. You don't want to mess with someone that big."

Eiji reluctantly stood aside and let the Juggernaut through. However, as the duo was about the leave, they heard the Juggernaut mutter to himself.

"Man. I'm starving." The Juggernaut muttered. "I need to get something to eat before I go meet up with Gozu and Mezu."

Eiji's eyes snapped open when he heard the names of the two ninjas he had gotten these stupid elemental powers from.

"What is it, Eiji?" Julia asked, seeing Eiji stopping.

Eiji turned. "That guy mentioned meeting up with Gozu and Mezu." He said. "Maybe we can get him to take us to them and find out some answers."

Julia bit her lip. "Look at his size!" She whispered. "He's not going down without a fight!"

"I'm aware of that." Eiji replied.

Drawing his ninja sword, Eiji leapt at Juggernaut, who turned to see the ninja coming at him. Juggernaut quickly held up one of his huge hands and blocked the attack.

"You're making a very stupid mistake in challenging me." Juggernaut said.

"Please! Don't fight!" The man behind the counter pleaded. "This place has already been torn up once!" His cries went unanswered, as the giant and ninja started fighting.

Julia sighed as she rushed forward to help Eiji in the battle.

**(The Arena) **

"**GENJURO!" (SS) **

The purple-haired samurai couldn't believe his horrible luck as he walked down to the ring. Haohmaru had managed to get a later draw than he, meaning that Genjuro would have to work is he was to stay in the arena until his rival showed up.

Reaching the arena, Genjuro leapt in and instantly went for the one with a sword, which happened to be Link.

Link saw Genjuro coming and raised the Master Sword, blocking Genjuro's attack. "What are YOU so mad about?"

"I need to survive as long as I can until Haohmaru comes out." Genjuro replied. "That way, we'll be able to fight and I'll be able to kill him."

"Why is it that samurai seem to want to kill each other all of the time?" Link asked himself as he pulled a bomb from the pouch on his bag and tossed it and the purple-haired man.

Genjuro was sent into the air by the resulting explosion and landed on his back. His thoughts as he was getting up were how surviving until Haohmaru came out was going to be harder than he earlier anticipated.

"**LEE CHAOLAN!" (T5) **

Surprisingly, no one came out from behind the curtain.

"Uh… I said 'LEE CHAOLAN!'"

"Just go to the next one, Unknown1." SSBFreak sighed.

"Okay."

"**RAINBOW MIKA!" (SFA3) **

Lee's absence was quickly solved when he burst out from behind the curtain with Mika right on his tail. Lee ran down the ramp as a determined Mika chased him down to the ring. What the female wrestler was doing chasing Lee questioned most of the audience, but no one spoke up.

Lee jumped into the arena and sighed in relief. "Finally! I'm safe!" He breathed.

"RAIN-BOW!" Mika screamed as she jumped into the arena, hip-first.

The prettyboy turned in time to see Mika's hip coming at him once more. "Not again!" He managed before Mika's hip slammed into his face, knocking him away.

Standing aside, Larcen and Ryu stopped fighting in time to see Mika pick Lee off his feet and slam him into the canvas. Larcen looked at Ryu. "So, that girl is actually from your node?" He asked.

Ryu nodded as he watched Mika start suplexing Lee into the canvas. "She's a valuable ally, but I don't understand why she's taking all of this pain out on Mr. Chaolan…"

The two looked at each other, shrugged and continued fighting.

**(Dome; Washrooms) **

The door to the ladies' washroom opened as Amy Guile stepped out. Now she had to start her trek back to the bleachers to meet up with her mother again.

Amy turned to the left and started walking off until she heard something behind her.

"Just a moment, young lady."

Amy froze, then slowly turned around. Standing in the hallway were four strange-looking figures, and she didn't recognize any of them. Sigma stood up front, looking down at Amy with a smirk. Valgas stood beside Sigma, rubbing his head from his earlier fight with Chang Koehan. The Rhino folded his arms and snorted. Finally, Ash Crimson smirked evilly as his finger ignited with green flames.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to come with us, Miss Guile." Sigma said, hoping to make Amy think they were security.

Amy, however, simply backed away slowly. "N-No way." She pointed at the four mismatched villains. "Whatever you guys want from me, I'm not going with you!"

Sigma frowned, seeing his plan fail. "Very well. We'll just have to take you by force, then."

"That's what you think, tinhead!"

Sigma turned in time to see a basketball coming at him. The orange projectile bounced off the giant machine's head, stunning him. The other villains turned and saw Lucky Glauber standing there with Ryoko and Bridget on either side of him.

Ryoko quickly lashed out her hand, firing an energy blast at Valgas. The giant man easily blocked it.

"Run, Miss Guile!" Bridget shouted as he pulled out his yo-yo and lashed it at Ash. "We'll hold these guys off!"

Amy nodded as she turned around and ran down the hallway, her ponytail looking like it was struggling to keep up with her.

Sigma looked at the other three villains. "I'll go after her. You guys defeat these pests." Without another word, Sigma turned and ran off after Amy.

Lucky ran forward and tried to stop Sigma, but the Rhino blocked his path, and wouldn't budge. The basketball player snarled. "Looks like we have to take you guys down!"

"We have to make it quick!" Ryoko said. "The quicker we finish, the better chance we have of catching up with that giant metal creep and saving Miss Guile!"

Ash smirked slyly. "You three are in for a real rough ride." He ignited his fist in green flames.

Lucky smirked. "Said the guy who was tossed from the arena in a matter of minutes."

Ash's smirk dropped. "First that stupid barrel robot and now you." He growled. "I'll make sure that I'm the one to kill you, my friend."

"Bring it!" Lucky challenged.

**(The Arena) **

"**SHIBA!" (S3) **

The giant lizardman came out from behind the curtain to a reasonably big cheer. Shiba looked around at the people cheering for him and smiled. He was really wanting to give his fans a good show, and was hoping that he could at least get ONE elimination. After all, only a select few from his node thus far have done any good.

Shiba walked down to the end of the ramp and stepped into the ring. His first instinct was to go help Toppo with Falco, but after seeing the psychotically angry look on the juggler's face, the lizardman decided not to interfere.

Seeing Chang Koehan, Shiba smirked. "Ah! There's someone I can fight! Not only is he my size, but he's done pretty well in the ring! I love a good challenge!"

Chang turned and saw Shiba running over, holding his giant sword-like weapon. "Ah! Hello, good sir! Have you come to challenge 'The Koehan' to a fight?"

Shiba nodded. "I think it's only honourable that two fighters of the same stature fight each other, don't you think?"

Chang smirked. "Quite right, my reptilian friend!"

However, unknown to Chang, things were about to get a little more reptilian in the ring.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**SEVEN**!"

"**BUSUZIMA!" (Bloody Roar 4) **

As the theme song to 'Wacky Races' blared through the speakers, everyone's favourite green-haired mad scientist came out from behind the curtain with a wide and stupid grin on his face. Busuzima scurried down to the arena with his arms trying to keep up with him.

Once he reached the arena, Busuzima ran over to the fight between Ryu and Larcen. The mad doctor slammed one of his bare feet into Larcen's head, knocking the gangster away, leaving only him and Ryu standing there, facing each other.

"What was that for?" Ryu asked.

"I just wanted to ask you if you were interested in becoming my latest test subject." Busuzima replied in his high-pitched, scratchy voice. "You are without a doubt one of the world's best fighters and I could use someone like you to fight for me."

Ryu narrowed his eyes. "You have GOT to be kidding me." Lashing out his hands, Ryu sent a fireball at the mad doctor, hoping to knock him away so he could continue his fight with Larcen.

Busuzima, however, swatted the fireball out of the air and raised his arms into the air with an insane grin. "You shouldn't have said that." He said before becoming engulfed in a white light.

When the light cleared, standing in Busuzima's place was a huge, green chameleon wearing the rainbow shirt and beige shorts.

In his transformed state, Busuzima let out a roar and lashed out his extra-long tongue, trying to wrap it around Ryu's foot.

Larcen quickly used his grappling hook to block the attack sent at Ryu. The Martial Artist looked at him in confusion. "Aren't you a little freaked out about this?"

"Are you kidding?" Larcen countered. "In my node, we have an owl, a snake, a monkey and a little dog that fight. I figured it would only be a matter of time before one of these lizards joined the fray.

Everyone in the ring suddenly heard a high-pitched scream. They all turned to see Falco looking at Busuzima in horror.

"It's him! Leon followed me!" Falco screamed as he ran away from a confused Toppo and started firing his blaster at Busuzima. "Kill him! Kill him!"

**(Star Wolf HQ) **

Leon Powalski stared at the TV, slack-jawed. "That birdbrain actually THINKS that's me in the ring?" The British chameleon asked in shock. "That shirt does NOT go with those shorts! Does he think I have some sort of bad taste in clothing?"

Wolf and Panther looked at the chameleon strangely before they slowly scooted away from him.

**(The Arena) **

"**FUUMA!" (WH) **

The red-haired ninja proudly walked down to the ring, looking around at the decent amount of cheering he was getting. After all, he was one of the four World Heroes that had been invited to participate in the Neo Geo Battle Coliseum tournament. He figured that this would only mean he would do great here.

His spirits were dropped as soon as he heard the theme song Shadow and co. had picked out for him.

"_Feel the burn and the fury of my pen"_

"_Feel the fire as I fan the flames again" _

"_Brace yourself for the mediocre!" _

Fuuma froze. This song, played by Roper, sounded vaguely familiar.

"_Hail the king of the almost good enough" _

"_Nothing bold, nothing's flying of the cuff" _

"_Things might change, but don't hold your breath yet!"_

Fuuma grit his teeth, suddenly feeling insulted from the song. Looking at the Eliminated Seating, almost everyone there was laughing heavily. Even Captain Kidd looked like he was snickering a little.

"_Try floating with the flow" _

"_Try not to run too slow" _

"_Be average, not below. Let's go!"_

Looking up at the Sound Booth, Fuuma saw Shadow, Astaroth and Aila laughing their behinds off, per usual by now. They looked like they were enjoying their newfound job a lot. This angered Fuuma even more.

"_Hello, lamewads! I'm with you!" _

"_Raise your fists if this rings true!" _

"_Hello, lamewads! Never quite our best or finest!" _

"_Hello, lamewads! I'm predicting a C minus, now!"_

Letting out a roar of anger, Fuuma leapt into the arena and threw himself at Heavy D!, hoping to take out his anger on him.

D! sighed and nailed Fuuma with a R.S.D. "You just never change, do you?"

**(Announcer Booth) **

SSBFreak looked at his friend. "How did that affect our ratings, Unknown1?"

Unknown1 looked at a monitor and pressed a few buttons on the keyboard. "According to our ratings, that was the best theme song change since Sonic got nailed with 'I am the Eggman'."

SSBFreak smirked. "Shadow and the others seem to be helping us more than they thought. Maybe we should get them to come back next year."

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Robert Garcia wiped a tear from his eye as his laughter started dying down. "Man! That was hilarious!" Looking to his side, he saw Captain Kidd doing the same. "Hey,Kidd? Why are you laughing? Isn't Fuuma your nodal companion?"

Kidd nodded. "Maybe so, but he's way too cocky." The pirate replied. "In my opinion, he's needed to be put in his place for a while now, and I think that song just managed to do that."

Robert shrugged.

**(Hotel; J. Maxx's Room) **

J. Maxx sat in a chair in his room, holding his head in his hands. He had been in his room ever since the tournament started, and was really kicking himself for what he was being forced to do. But could he risk doing anything to stop it when his son was in danger?

"No." J. Maxx shook his head. "My son means the world to me. I can't risk him getting hurt." He sighed. "As long as I do what Bison says, Junior's going to be safe. That's all I care about."

Suddenly, the door to his room was thrown open, revealing Ryofu and Shura. The two looked at J. Maxx with wide eyes.

"Maximum!" Shura shouted. "Where have you been? Ryofu and I have been looking everywhere for you!"

"I've been here the whole time." J. Maxx said as he grabbed his helmet and put it on. "Why?"

"Shura and I saw your son getting kidnapped almost four sections ago and we wanted to come and find you!" Ryofu replied. "I'm sorry that we took so long to tell you, but Shura and I have honestly been looking for you everywhere!"

J. Maxx's eyes widened his horror as he mouth went completely dry. "What?"

"We saw a big, furry guy carrying your son off, mumbling something about reporting back to Bison!" Shura explained.

"Well…What can I do?"

"We suggest that you wait for now." Ryofu replied. "You enter the ring in a couple of sections, and you're entering shortly after that Bison fellow does."

J. Maxx nodded shakily, silently thanking his two nodal companions as they left, leaving him alone again.

Slowly standing up, J. Maxx looked down at the floor. "He…He lied to me." The football player said. "He told me that Junior would be alright if I eliminated that Fred guy, but…He had him kidnapped anyway."

Suddenly, J. Maxx's dark aura flowed through his body, starting to awaken. His eyes narrowed and glowed red.

"…_Bison…"_ J. Maxx hissed.

In pure fury, J. Maxx ran at the door to his room, threw it open and ran out, starting his sprint to get ready to enter the arena.

**(The Arena) **

"**SETH!" (KOF) **

The black, white-haired former agent of NESTS came out from behind the curtain and ran down to the ring. Leaping in, Seth quickly decided to aid in taking out the biggest threat in the arena.

However, since Shiba and Chang were dueling each other rather than anyone else, Seth decided to settle on helping Ryu, Larcen and now Falco with Busuzima.

Seth quickly started things off by attacking Busuzima with his foot. The giant chameleon staggered forward as his energy became fully depleted. In another flash of white light, Busuzima detransformed back into a human again.

Falco looked at the odd man. "Enough with your disguises, Leon! I ain't going to believe you putting on that human disguise!"

Ryu, Larcen and Seth watched Falco continue fighting Busuzima. Larcen looked at the newcomer. "What have you done, man? Now the bird's even crazier."

"**SPIRAL!" (MC) **

The six-armed beauty came out from behind the curtain and stepped down the ramp, prepared for anything that was thrown at her. Spiral jumped into the arena and looked around for someone to take on.

"None of these worthless foes seem to be worth my time!" Spiral sneered. "Come on! Who can take me on?"

Spiral was almost tempted to go pound Lee Chaolan into a pulp, but stopped herself when she saw that Rainbow Mika was well on her way on doing that already. So, Spiral resorted to going over to the fight between Link and Genjuro.

Once she reached the dueling swordsmen, Spiral lashed out all six of her arms, striking Link with all three of her left hands and Genjuro with all three of her right hands. This knocked both swordsmen away from each other.

Once Link and Genjuro regained their footing, they looked at Spiral. After they did, they looked at each other.

"We'll settle our bout later." Genjuro said. "For now, let us team up against this nuisance."

Spiral smirked as both men advance on her. "Finally. A real challenge."

"And now, the final fighter of this section…"

"**KAGEMARU!" (VF) **

The blue-clad ninja burst from behind the curtain and ran down to the arena. Kage knew how well Watari, a fellow ninja, had done, and wanted to improve on that.

Reaching the arena, Kage looked around. The battle between Ryu, Larcen, Falco, Seth and Busuzima looked pretty hectic. Even a skilled ninja like him wasn't brave enough to interrupt something like that. Link and Genjuro had started double-teaming Spiral, and Shingo was currently fighting Lion.

Kage quickly spotted King and Jigglypuff, fighting Fuuma. Kage quickly moved over to help the two girls with the wannabe ninja.

Jigglypuff saw Kage coming over and looked up at King. "Jiggly! Jig, jig puff!"

King looked in the direction the round Pokemon was pointing and saw Kage dashing over. The blue-clad ninja quickly grabbed Fuuma and threw him over his shoulder.

"Hey. Thanks for helping us, there." King said.

"Ah. This guy deserves it." Kage shrugged. "You up for some double-teaming?"

"Jiggly!"

"Okay. Triple-teaming."

King nodded. "Sure."

Kage put up his fists. "Let's go!"


	17. Section Seven Results

**(The Arena) **

Because Falco was hysterically throwing everything (including the kitchen sink) at Busuzima, the arena was turned into a hazard zone. Even if someone had the guts to go over to the avian and say that Busuzima actually WASN'T Leon Powalski, they wouldn't have had a chance to say anything. Several laser bolts burned several more holes in Chang's shirt, but the giant man again didn't notice and resumed his fight with Shiba. Fuuma was unlucky enough to get thrown (by Heavy D!) onto a proximity mine, then get blasted onto another one. Using his 'ninja skillz', Kagemaru managed to create a log in his hands and use it to protect himself, King and Jigglypuff at the same time, thus being one of the luckier fighters.

Oblivious to all the gunfire going on around her, R. Mika continued to beat the snot out of Lee Chaolan in a furious attempt to get answers from him. Hoisting Lee off the ground, Mika leapt into the air and slammed her opponent into the canvas.

"Ready to talk yet?" Mika asked through her teeth.

If Lee was still feeling any senses, he would have said yes, but because Mika's attacks were so powerful, Lee didn't have the energy to say anything.

Mika took Lee's silence into account and narrowed her eyes. "So, you won't talk, huh?" Lifting Lee off the ground again, Mika put him on his feet and pushed him in the direction of the ropes.

Lee staggered into the ropes and was pushed back towards Mika, who promptly clotheslined him.

Ryu scratched his head. "I've never seen Mika fight this furiously before. Something must have happened to her."

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Borus Redrum stormed into the Eliminated Seating, feeling furious about his performance in the ring. It wasn't enough that he didn't manage to get an elimination, but the fact that characters like Gadget Z, whom was now signing the Oscar Meyer song in his seat, did better than he did infuriated him even more.

Percival saw his rival's anger and smirked. "Great performance, Borus." He said.

"Shove it, Percival." Borus said as he took a seat. "It's not like you did any better. At least the person that eliminated me has some skill." He suddenly saw Raiden sitting down several rows away. "Wasn't that fat wrestler the one to throw you from the ring?"

Percival's smirk vanished. "Watch it, pal. You push that any further and you'll end up with a black eye."

Sitting in the row in front of the two knights, Queen sighed and shook her head. "Those two are almost as bad as Ace and Joker." She said.

Geddoe, sitting beside her, nodded. He looked around, then back at Queen. "Say, where'd Reed end up going a couple minutes ago?"

Queen shrugged. "For all I know, he could have gone to find that redhead punk from this anime node and blame him for stealing his hairstyle." She was silent for a few seconds. "You know? I could never really pronounce the name of that node. It was so long it was hard for me to say."

Geddoe nodded again as he started snapping his fingers to jog his memory. "Yeah. It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't seem to get it to come out. It's like…Yu Yu something…"

**(Suikoden Locker Room) **

Little Shabon watched the monitor and scratched her head. The fact that she saw Toppo angry was confusing enough, but the fact that he seemed bent on eliminating the strange, blue, bird creature puzzled the young musician even more.

Deciding to ask someone, Shabon looked at Jacques. "Why is Toppo so mad at the bird with the pretty, blue feathers, Jacques?"

"Well…You see…" Jacques, not being one for talking, tried to come up with a way to give the answer with as few words as possible. "That bird eliminated Nei."

Shabon paused for a second, then nodded. "I see. (Jacques exhaled in relief) He's mad because he was hoping to fight alongside Nei and take out everyone in the ring, so he's trying to make it up by taking out the bird-man."

"…Something like that…" Jacques shrugged.

"I'm surprised that Nei actually managed to do better than some of us knights." Leo added. "Borus and Percival are two of the six knights of Zexen, and Nei managed to outlast them."

Shabon beamed. "And Toppo will do just as good!" She looked back at the monitor. "As soon as Toppo can get the birdman away from the strange man with the green hair, he'll eliminate him in a matter of seconds!"

**(The Arena) **

Fuuma slowly stood to his feet and shook his head several times. That stupid boxer had been throwing him onto Falco's proximity mines for a good while now, and a fair amount of the red ninja's hair was burnt.

Once he was standing straight, Fuuma turned and looked at Heavy D! with a cold glare. "Why did you throw me onto that thing?" He demanded.

"No offense, pal." D! replied as he put up his fists. "But you're a loser."

Fuuma narrowed his eyes. "No offense? NO OFFENSE? How is calling me a loser not supposed to mean any offense?"

D! smirked. "I just thought that you would be used to it by now. That's all."

Fuuma fumed (pun intended). "That's IT!"

Showing a very un-ninja-like case of un-stealthyness, Fuuma charged at D! and dove at him in a flying tackle.

D! saw this coming and swerved to the side. As Fuuma passed beside him, D! lashed out an R.S.D., bringing the ninja out of his tackle. As Fuuma collapsed to the canvas, D! continued the onslaught with a Soul Flower, firing the red-clad man into the air.

Looking up, D! saw that Fuuma was getting close to the ropes around the arena. He shook his head. "This has gotta be the easiest elimination I've had yet."

Lashing out his fist, D! sent several streaks of energy into the air, slamming into Fuuma with full effect. The power from the attack was more than enough, as Fuuma was sent flying out of the arena, screaming words in Japanese that would make the rating for this fiction go up about three levels.

Kagemaru walked over to D!. "That has got to be the WORST ninja I have ever seen."

D! nodded. "Yeah. I think those wannabes from the Kizuna Encounter node may even be better than him."

**(Announcer's Booth) **

SSBFreak shook his head. "Man. Fuuma didn't even last as long as Muscle Power. That's pretty bad."

Unknown1 looked at his watch. "Yeah. Muscle Power lasted a full thirty seconds longer than Fuuma did."

"Say, where'd Fuuma end up, anyway?"

Unknown1 looked at the monitor. "Apparently, Fuuma is learning the hard way that he can't fly."

"…Huh?

"He's landed in Pilotwings. He landed on Goose's hang glider and they're both plummeting towards the ocean."

"Ah."

**(The Arena) **

"Enough with your pathetic disguises, Leon!" Falco roared as he continued pounding on Busuzima. "That has got to be the WORST human disguise I've ever seen!"

The green-haired man quickly held up his palm and stopped a punch from the blue avian. "Look! I'm not this 'Leon' you speak of!" Busuzima tried to reason. "I'm Dr. Busuzima!"

Falco quickly tried sweeping Busuzima off his feet, but the odd scientist proved too quick and leapt over Falco's foot as it sailed under him.

As he landed on his feet, Busuzima suddenly saw Toppo running over to Falco in a stampede. The murderous look on the juggler's face told the mad scientist that he wasn't going to say 'hi' to Falco.

Busuzima smirked. "You may want to turn around. You've got a psychotic juggler coming up from behind."

"Yeah right, Leon!" Falco scoffed. "I stopped falling for that trick when you told me that a purple octopus with two heads was in the middle of stealing my Caesar Salad!"

Suddenly, Falco felt a firm hand grasp the back of his flight jacket.

With one hand, Toppo threw Falco over his shoulder, making the avian land on his side. Busuzima quickly looked back at Ryu, Larcen and Seth and smirked. "Let's finish our fight!" He laughed before turning into a chameleon again.

Falco looked up and saw Toppo standing over him, a dark expression on his face.

"What the heck is your problem, man?" Falco asked.

Toppo, being Toppo, didn't answer. He simply bent over, grabbed Falco and hauled him to his feet. As soon as the bird was on his feet, Toppo struck him with his fist.

Clutching the side of his beak, Falco staggered back a couple of steps. Narrowing his eyes at Toppo, Falco drew his blaster. "There must be a good reason why you're so mad at me."

As he tried to remember who Toppo was in the Suikoden node, Falco fired his blaster several times. Using amazing agility, Toppo jumped into the air and over the first couple of bolts and landed on his hands. Then, Toppo sprung from his hands and did another half-flip, over three more laser bolts, landing on his feet again. Seeing one more bolt coming at him, Toppo grapped one of his juggling balls and hurled it at Falco. The ball struck the bolt, negating it.

"Now I think I know!" Falco said suddenly, making Toppo jump in surprise. "You're friends with that elf girl I eliminated in the last section!"

Toppo growled, his eyes glaring daggers at Falco, who laughed.

"Man! I don't believe it! You're so mad at me just because I eliminated your friend! What, are you in LOVE with her or something?" Falco laughed.

Less than two seconds later and Falco's laughing stopped. But it wasn't because he had wanted to stop, but it was because he found it hard to laugh as he was flying headfirst out of the arena. His last thought before vanishing into the vortex was how one punch could eliminate him.

In the ring, Toppo finally lowered his fist and breathed heavily through his teeth. He was SO glad Nei wasn't around to hear Falco say that.

Falco landed in Megaman X. Looking around, he saw that he was in some sort of forest arena.

Rubbing his head, Falco looked around. "That's odd. I can tell that I'm inside a building, but there's still a forest in here."

Suddenly, a figure dropped from the ceiling of the room and landed a good several feet away from Falco.

Seeing what the newcomer was, Falco's eyes snapped open as he let out a scream that made him sound like a six year-old girl. "LEON! Why are you following me everywhere I go?" Lunging at the newcomer, Falco drew his blaster. "DIE, ALREADY!"

Sting Chameleon looked at Falco and let out a roar.

**(Star Wolf HQ) **

"This is an outrage!" Leon shouted in rage. "That idiot now thinks that that ROBOT is me!"

"Is he ALWAYS like this?" Panther asked Wolf.

"This is nothing." Wolf said. "You should see how he reacted when Falco thought Leon was a polar bear."

**(The Arena) **

Shiba leaned to the side and allowed Chang's iron wrecking ball to swing past his head. The giant lizardman quickly lashed out with his three-pointed blade, which Chang jumped over, showing a shocking amount of agility for a fat man.

The two giants had been fighting ever since Shiba entered the arena. Not wanting to endanger any innocents (although they probably wouldn't have minded taking a couple swings at Busuzima), the two had been fighting in a distant corner of the ring, away from the three-on-one battle that Busuzima was losing badly. The two were so into their battle that neither of them noticed Lee Chaolan getting thrown over them, screaming like a little girl. R. Mika ran after him and continued pounding the snot out of him.

"I must thank you for allowing me to fight you." Shiba said. "You're are a very worthy adversary, and you have proven that by lasting this long."

"Bruce Irvin is the better fighter." Chang said with a cheesy smile. "He eliminated six people. 'The Koehan' has only eliminated four."

"Even still, you are my size." Shiba said. "If I were to battle someone smaller, I would have an unfair advantage."

"Well, after we are both eliminated, we should talk. 'The Koehan' thinks you would be a valuable ally in my war against evil."

Shiba chuckled. "I appreciate it. Maybe if I end up leaving my home node, I see if I can find you."

However, neither of the two giants noticed that Link and Genjuro were continuing their little battle with Spiral. Now, she may have been a mutant, but fighting against two amazingly skilled swordsmen was just way out of her league. She already had several cuts on all six of her arms and her helmet was cracked in several places.

"You really think that you can try to interrupt a fight?" Link asked with a smirk. "You should know what's happened to everyone that HAS so far."

For the first time all night, Spiral was scared.

Link lashed out his boomerang and Spiral barely managed to duck under it as it passed by. Genjuro lunged forward and stabbed with his sword, but Spiral jumped back as the purple-haired swordsman's weapon stopped two inches from her stomach.

Deciding not to face this danger any longer, Spiral turned around and ran away from the two swordsmen.

She got about two feet before Link's boomerang decided to return. It clocked Spiral in the head, knocking the senses out of her. Holding her forehead with her top left arm, Spiral staggered forward, unknowingly going towards the battle between Chang and Shiba.

Shiba leapt over Chang's iron ball as it was swung at his feet. Once he landed on his feet, the lizardman shoved his shoulder out, slamming it into Chang's face.

Chang shook his head several times, then looked back at Shiba. "Very powerful attack there, fellow freedom-fighter." The giant man said. "But let's see how well you can defend against this!"

With all of his might, Chang pulled his wrecking ball back and prepared to swing it at Shiba, but stopped himself when he felt his weapon make contact with something.

Chang and Shiba stood in silence. Chang looked at Shiba. "Did you see 'The Koehan' eliminate anyone?"

Shiba shook his head. "I didn't notice. I was only paying attention to our fight."

Chang's confused expression quickly vanished. "Well, then let's finish it!"

Spiral landed in Unreal Championship. She lasted about three seconds longer than Ash Crimson did in section one before getting blown sky high.

**(Dome; Snack Bar) **

The snack bar owner watched in despair as the three fighters tore through the eating area with ease. Sure the majority of the damage was being done by the huge behemoth with the metal head, but the native girl and the ninja with the mullet were doing a fair share of demolition themselves.

Eiji Kisaragi lashed out his sword, sending a crescent-shaped energy projectile at the Juggernaut. The attack did little more than make the giant flinch. In frustration, Eiji ran at the giant man and leapt at him in a flying kick to the head. Unfortunately, this did absolutely nothing other than hurt his foot.

Julia Chang saw Eiji hurt himself and decided to lend a hand. Running up to the Juggernaut, Julia lashed out her foot. She knew for a fact that she wouldn't be able to grab him, so she figured that attacking him physically was the next best thing.

The native girl got lucky, and her kick to Juggernaut's stomach DID hurt him. She quickly looked at her new friend. "Eiji! Go for his stomach! His head's too heavily protected!"

Eiji got to his feet and nodded. "Got it." Drawing his sword again, Eiji lunged forward.

Juggernaut growled. "You shrimps think you can take me on?" He roared. "Forget about it!"

Swinging his huge hand, Juggernaut struck Julia with a backhanded attack, knocking the young woman away. Eiji quickly avenged her by slashing his sword across Juggernaut's stomach.

"You little punk!" Juggernaut shouted. "Why don't you just give up now?"

"Not until you tell me everything you know about Gozu and Mezu!" Eiji snapped back. "They gave me these stupid elemental powers and I want them gone!"

"Well, I'm afraid you won't get anything from me!" Juggernaut replied.

"Then I guess I'll have to beat the info from you." Eiji narrowed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Julia slowly got to her feet and shook off the effects of Juggernaut's powerful attack. Looking ahead, she saw Eiji furiously attacking Juggernaut, although the giant was blocking most of the attacks. Juggernaut suddenly found an opening and lashed out a huge fist. Although Eiji blocked the attack, he was still sent back several feet.

Julia's eye snapped open when she saw the Juggernaut pull his head back. She had heard about the Juggernaut's powerful attacks and knew what was coming next.

Without thinking, Julia ran at her new friend. "EIJI! LOOK OUT!" She shrieked as she dove at Eiji.

The native woman lunged at Eiji in a flying tackle and bowled him over, knocking him to the side. No sooner had the two new friends dived to safety when the Juggernaut shot forward in a charging headbutt. Eiji felt the sheer power from Juggernaut's attack and knew right away that it would kill an unprepared person almost instantly. Looking at Julia as she got up, Eiji realized that he owed her his life now, and was determined to make it up to her somehow.

Julia ran at the Juggernaut, whom had stopped his headbutt and turned just in time to see her coming. Like what she had done with Eiji, Juli dove at the giant villain in a flying tackle and knocked the behemoth to the floor. Quickly getting into a sitting position on the Juggernaut's stomach, Julia repeatedly drove her fists into the giant's chest, severely damaging him.

Quickly standing up, Julia walked over to the Juggernaut's head and looked down at him. She narrowed her eyes and stared into the villain's eye for a couple of seconds before sighing and pulling her foot into the air.

The last thing Juggernaut saw was Julia's foot coming down upon his forehead.

Eiji watched in amazement as Julia walked away from the defeated behemoth. "He doesn't know anything about these elemental powers you received." She explained.

"But…You didn't talk to him." Eiji stammered as his eyes widened in shock. "How do you now that?"

"I sensed it." Julia replied simply. "Come on. We need to find Rasputin before he enters the arena."

Eiji nodded and followed Julia out of the snack bar.

**(The Arena) **

Ryu, Larcen and Seth continued fighting Busuzima, whom had recently ran out of superpower, detransforming him back into a human again. Even still, the mad scientist was still managing to hold his own against the three others.

The green-haired man flashed a grin as he thrust his palm out, nailing Ryu in the stomach. "You three really think you can take someone like me on? I've got twice the power than all of you combined!"

Larcen shook his head at the other Mystery Fighter. "Only when you're a chameleon, and from what we've seen, you can only stay transformed for about thirty seconds."

Because Larcen was talking, he wasn't really paying attention to his opponent. When he finished talking, the first thing the burglar saw was Busuzima's foot coming at his face.

Ryu and Seth watched as Larcen was knocked away. "Well, there goes one of us." Seth muttered. "We're going to have to take him out on our own."

"Fine with me." Ryu said. "This guy seems determined to turn me into a lab rat."

Ryu shoved his hands out, launching his trademark fireball at the strange man. Busuzima quickly swatted the projectile with his hand, canceling it out.

The young martial artist's eyes widened. "But…How? You attacked my fireball and you didn't get hurt!"

Busuzima smiled slyly. "I told you I was stronger." He replied, ignoring the searing pain flowing through his hand.

Seth got into a stance and ran at Busuzima as Ryu did the same. The green-haired man shoved his elbow into Seth's stomach as the dark-skinned man was approaching, then grabbed him and threw him aside. However, Busuzima wasn't quick enough and Ryu's fist slammed into his cheek. Although he staggered back a couple of steps, Busuzima quickly regained his footing and saw Ryu's fist coming at him again. The green-haired man quickly held up his hand and watched as Ryu's fist buried into it, nullifying the attack.

Busuzima quickly picked Ryu up and threw him over his shoulder. While Ryu did fly out of the arena, Ryu grabbed the ropes around the edges and slid back in.

Seth recovered from Busuzima's attack and looked at the madman. Seeing his opponent's back turned to him, Seth sensed an opportunity and rushed forward again. Thrusting his fist out as he ran, Seth prepared to deliver a punch that could stun Busuzima long enough to be thrown from the arena.

Unfortunately for the dark-skinned man, Busuzima saw him coming. Crouching low, Busuzima allowed Seth to punch the air above him. Acting quickly, Busuzima got into a standing position again while Seth was still hanging above him. Seth found himself lifted off the ground. Busuzima quickly finished the battle by flipping Seth over the ropes and out of the arena.

Seth landed in Jet Grind Radio. Beat, mistaking him for a police officer, knocked Seth over and sprayed him with graffiti.

Back in the arena, R. Mika continued to do some serious damage to Lee Chaolan. The silver-haired man was receiving so much pain that he thought he was still fighting Kazuya back in Tekken 5. Ever since entering the arena, Lee just wasn't able to even get a hit in on the female wrestler he was facing. Apparently, she was extremely determined to get some info from him. However, even in an intense amount of pain, Lee vowed not to reveal anything, although he had to admit that he was definitely tempted.

Currently, Lee was laying on the spiraling ramp that was connected to the spike rising from the center of the arena. Looking ahead, Lee saw Mika leap into the air and land on the ramp herself, landing directly beside Lee.

"Okay, buster!" Mika said as she looked Lee in the eyes. "You're going to tell me sooner or later!"

Lee smirked weakly. "You'll…Have to…Eliminate me."

Mika narrowed her eyes. "You're a stubborn fellow." She said as she hauled Lee to his feet and, with one hand, threw Lee off the ramp, making him fly headfirst towards the edge of the arena. Lee landed on his stomach and slid forward a few feet before finally coming to a halt.

Lee sighed in relief as he rolled himself onto his back. Finally, he was left alone.

Suddenly, the silver-haired man heard a high-pitched battle cry. Look up, he saw Mika leaping off the ramp and flying towards him. Lee's eyes snapped open.

The audience winced in pain as Mika landed elbow-first on Lee's stomach. Link and Genjuro even stopped dueling for a second to wince in pain as well.

Getting to her feet, Mika shook her head. "I tried to give you the chance, pal." She sighed. "Looks like I have no choice."

Grabbing Lee, Mika spun around once, taking Lee with her. Finally realizing that Lee wouldn't say anything, Mika decided to eliminate him. After spinning, Mika let go of the hapless Lee, sending him out of the arena. Strangely, as he was flying through the vortex, Lee looked relieved.

Lee landed in Wario Ware. In fact, he landed in Diamond City, inside a pizzeria.

Mona, the red-haired owner of the shop, smiled when she saw Lee appear and walked over. "Hello there, sir!" She greeted cheerily. "Say, judging by the way you just appeared there, I'm guessing that you've just been eliminated from this tournament I've been hearing about."

Lee grabbed his head as he slowly got to his feet.

"Say, while you're here, could I interest you in a slice of my world-famous pizza?" Mona offered. "Wario eats no other kind."

The silver-haired villain snapped out of his daze when Mona said 'Wario'. He looked at Mona and raised an eyebrow. "Wario? As in the stinking-rich, money-loving Wario? You know him?"

"Yeah." Mona nodded. "He comes in here all the time because he appreciates the fact that I help him out so much."

Lee thought about this for a few seconds and smirked slyly. "So, would you consider yourself his friend?"

Mona slowly started backing away, feeling a little uneasy. "Uh…Yeah. Why?"

"Oh, no real reason." Lee replied as he approached Mona. "It's just that I'm a little short on cash at the moment."

"I don't believe it!" SSBFreak said. "He actually kidnapping Mona!"

"I thought that all the villains made an agreement not to do this!" Unknown1 added. "What do we do?"

"We can't do anything ourselves, but I think I have a plan." SSBFreak quickly started typing on a keyboard. "But it looks like we're going to have the bend the rule of 'random elimination node' just this once."

**(The Arena) **

"Heinzan!"

The crowd roared in approval as Chang successfully performed another Heinzan (so far, this was the fifth) and kicked Shiba in the chest. However, because of the

lizardman's huge stature, Shiba wasn't kicked high or far enough to be eliminated. Shiba landed on his side, but quickly leapt to his feet.

"You have amazing skills, my friend." Shiba smirked. "I didn't even see that coming."

Shiba suddenly surprised Chang by running at him, showing an amazing amount of speed for such a large fighter. Shiba quickly lashed out his weapon at Chang's feet. The unlikely superhero jumped into the air and watched as Shiba's weapon soared underneath him. Shiba was anticipating this and quickly jabbed the airborne man in the stomach with his elbow. This threw Chang off as he landed awkwardly on his side.

Chang laughed as he jumped to his feet. "You have amazing speed for someone your size, friend Shiba!" Chang complimented as he threw his wrecking ball aside. "'The Koehan' now knows that he has chosen a worthy opponent!" Shiba smirked as he dropped his weapon.

The two giants rushed each other again with the intent on giving the audience a good show. They each reared back and lunged forward, shoulder-first. Both fighters collided with enough combined force to tip over a train. Anyone that remembered the minor earthquake from when Chang fought Valgas wasn't instantly reminded of it, as the following tremor felt at least five times more powerful. Kagemaru and Jigglypuff were the only ones in the air at the time, so they were the only fighters in the arena that weren't knocked to the canvas.

Chang and Shiba each breathed heavily as they looked at each other, neither of them believing that the other was still standing. The two giants panted as they each struggled to recover fast enough to remove the other from the arena.

Much to the surprise of everyone in the arena, audience and Eliminated Seating, Chang and Shiba started chuckling. "You must have an inhuman amount of stamina and strength, friend Koehan." Shiba smirked. "You are the first opponent I've ever had that actually took that attack and remained standing."

Chang smirked in return. "It is only natural that 'The Koehan' has this amount of power." He said. "He wouldn't be able to fight the evil scum of the Earth any other way."

"Well, let's finish this fight." Shiba said. "I'm looking forward to getting this over with."

Chang nodded as the two giants advanced on each other again.

Man and lizard instantly started grappling each other, and the two started punching each other, resorting on their fists rather than their weapons to eliminate the other.

After a little bit, Chang broke away from Shiba and jumped back. "It is time that 'The Koehan' finished this!" Running forward, Chang approached Shiba and raised his foot. "Heinzan!"

However, rather than strike his opponent, Chang felt his foot strike nothing but air. He realized all too late that Shiba had sidestepped the attack. Shiba quickly took this opportunity and grabbed Chang, throwing him out of the arena. Shiba quickly picked up Chang's iron wrecking ball, which had been on the canvas since the two had thrown down their weapons. The lizardman tossed the ball out of the arena after Chang, knowing that he'd need it wherever he'd end up. Shiba picked up his weapon and went off to start another fight.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"Did it work?"

Unknown1 looked at the monitor and nodded. "Yep. He's where we want him."

"Good."

**(Dome; Recovery Room) **

Electro slowly sat up on the medical bead, rubbing his head. "Man. What happened."

Dr. Tuta chuckled. "You landed in Ecco the Dolphin. Apparently, you and water don't mix very well."

Faust, standing aside, laughed through the paper bag on his head. "I haven't seen someone so shocked since I told Johnny that I-No had stolen his hairgel!"

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Electro stood up. "As much as I'd love to stand around here." His voice dripped with sarcasm, but he wasn't sure if either of the two medical officers noticed. (Mio, the nurse, did. She quickly whapped Electro over the head with her clipboard) "I have somewhere to go. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Electro pushed his way past the doctors and walked out the door to the Recovery Room. However, the green-clad supervillain froze when he saw the barrel of a gun jammed into his face.

"Freeze, buster." Joanna Dark said…Well…Darkly.

Tossing a Fragmentation Grenade to himself, Master Chief nodded. "Listen to the lady, pal."

The insanely sharp tips of Knuckles' gloves were dangerously close to Electro's stomach. "Just tell us what you know about this kidnapping plot and you won't get hurt."

Samurai Goroh pressed the tip of one of his swords up to Electro's throat. "Mel Masters has gone missing, and we have a feeling that you villains are behind it."

"So spill it, buddy!" Psymon Stark concluded before looking at the tattoo on his shoulder. "No, we're not going to kill him, you putz! We're going to make him tell us what he knows!"

Sweat dripped down Electro's face, but he wasn't about to let these security leaders get the best of him. Luckily for him, all of the others looked at Psymon as the Canadian psycho continued to argue with his tattoo. Electro took the chance and slipped by. He instantly started running down the hallway.

"Hey! He's getting away!" Joanna shouted.

"After him!" Knuckles added.

All five of the security leaders instantly started running after Electro in an attempt to take him down.

**(Hotel; Cafeteria) **

Rasputin took another sip of his tea, savoring the comfortingly warm taste, before looking around the table he was at. "I can't thank you all enough for coming here just to cheer me on."

Rose shrugged. "Hey, we've all been friends for years, Rasputin. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to see you fight again."

Nightwolf placed a comforting hand on Rasputin's shoulder. "You would have done the same for any of us, right?" Rasputin nodded. "See? Why should it surprise you that we showed up?"

"Well, maybe I can make it up to you guys." Rasputin said. "After this is done, maybe I could find the ones in charge and see if I can get you guys to come fight next year."

Tikal, the orange echidna, smiled warmly. "That's very kind of you, Rasputin."

"Thank you. In fact, I-"

Rasputin was cut short when he suddenly sensed something very disturbing. He furrowed his brow as he looked at the doorway to the cafeteria. "Do you guys sense that?"

The others focused and, like Rasputin, sensed something.

"Yes. It feels almost like two amazingly strong elemental powers." Tikal said suspiciously.

"But they're both concentrated in the same area." Rose shook her head. "How can that be possible?"

Suddenly, the door flew open and two figures came into the cafeteria. Well, it was more like the first one, the female, was almost dragging the second one in. The male of the two looked like he was struggling to walk.

Julia Chang suddenly saw Rasputin sitting at the table. "Look, Eiji! There he is!"

"W-What?" Eiji asked before seeing the bearded mage. "Oh, thank goodness."

"Mister Rasputin!" Julia said. "My friend Eiji needs your help!"

Rasputin stood up. "Certainly. What seems to be the problem?"

**(The Arena) **

Larcen slowly got to his feet. The last thing he remembered was Busuzima tossing him aside and knocking him out. Amazingly, no one had taken the opportunity to eliminate him. Larcen looked around the arena to see what had happened while he was unconscious.

The burglar quickly saw that Seth had been eliminated, and now it was just Ryu fighting Busuzima, although Kagemaru was running over to help the martial artist. Shiba had apparently eliminated that strange superhero and was now helping Toppo with Lion Rafale. And finally, R. Mika had gotten Lee Chaolan out of the arena and was now fighting Shingo Yabuki.

Quickly deciding to help Ryu and Kagemaru with Busuzima, Larcen reached into his trench coat and pulled out another Sai. Throwing it with all his might, Larcen watched as his weapon cut through the air like…Well…A knife. It sailed for a good while before finding a home in Busuzima's shoulder. The mad scientist, a chameleon at the time, roared in pain before yanking the Sai out of his skin. Almost right after he did, he turned into a human again.

Larcen's eyes narrowed as he charged forward at Busuzima. The green-haired man returned the glare, but didn't move.

"That hurt, you punk!" Busuzima shouted. "I think I'll take you down first before I turn the martial artist into my next experiment!"

"You'll have to take me down before I let you do that!" Larcen shouted back as he raised his knee.

Larcen slid forward the final few feet, his knee outstretched. Unprepared for this, Busuzima took the knee right to the nose. Larcen continued with six quick punches to the madman's chest, making him stagger back a little bit.

The gangster quickly turned to Ryu. "You'd better get out of here, pal. Ninja-boy and I will fight this guy."

Ryu nodded. "Thanks." He said as he ran off to challenge King and Jigglypuff.

Busuzima narrowed his eyes. "You'll pay for that."

Kagemaru quickly kicked him in the back. "I think not!"

Larcen reached into his trench coat again and pulled out his grappling hook. Spinning it above his head several times, Larcen clocked Busuzima in the head four times before lashing it out, striking him in the chest.

Kagemaru jumped into the air and gracefully landed on Busuzima's shoulders, knocking the mad scientist to the ground. While Busuzima was on the ground, both burglar and ninja repeatedly attacked him before the green-haired man rolled out of the way and stood straight.

Despite the numbing pain flooding his body, Busuzima smirked. "You guys are in for it, now!" With that, the green-haired man was engulfed in a white light, turning him into a chameleon again.

Busuzima lashed out his long tongue at Larcen and Kagemaru. However, Larcen surprised the madman by grabbing the tongue and holding it, preventing it from going back into his mouth.

"Okay, ninja-boy! I got him!" Larcen said to Kagemaru. "You take him down!"

Kagemaru nodded and ran at the giant chameleon. The blue-clad ninja slammed into Busuzima, shoulder first. This made Busuzima recoil in pain, and Larcen quickly added to it by releasing the long tongue, making it snap back into the chameleon's mouth. Busuzima continued to stagger back, towards the ropes.

"This should fix you!" Kagemaru shouted as he leapt into the air and brought his foot up to Busuzima's chin. This sent the transformed mad scientist over the ropes and out of the arena, the power from Kagemaru's kick reverting him back to his human form.

Busuzima landed in Clayfighter 63 1/3. There, he started a heated argument with Dr. Kiln about being a mad scientist. Busuzima was winning until High Five came in and swatted them both.

Genjuro ducked again and watched as Link's sword sailed above his head. The two swordsmen had been dueling ever since Chang had unknowingly eliminated Spiral. Right now, the fight looked like it would go either way, but Genjuro was showing a little more determination.

"Why do you seem to determined to eliminate me?" Link asked as he lashed out his boomerang.

"Nothing personal." Genjuro replied as he quickly and easily blocked the boomerang. "No, wait. It IS personal. Haohmaru comes out in several sections and I want to eliminate him. You seem to be standing in my way of surviving the round, so in order to last, I need to eliminate you."

Link paused for a few seconds, then held his head. "Oh, man. Brain cramp! Brain cramp!"

Seeing his chance, Genjuro lunged forward and slashed at Link. Despite his brain hurting, Link saw the attack coming and blocked the blow with the Master Sword. The two warriors locked swords and started an epic battle to wear the other down.

Eventually, the two swords locked again. In the end, Genjuro won the battle and forced Link's weapon to go in a complete circle before finally making it fly from the Hylian's hands. The Master Sword flew several feet away before coming to a rest beside Toppo's feet. The juggler picked it up, looked at it, shrugged and continued fighting, this time with it.

Genjuro laughed heartily. "Looks like your weapon is gone, Hero of Time!" The purple-haired swordsman gloated. "What will you use for a weapon now?"

Link smirked and reached into his tunic.

Genjuro stared in shock and horror as Link pulled a huge, wide sword that was almost as tall as he was out from his tunic.

"The Biggoron Sword." Link replied simply.

Genjuro gulped and watched as Link pulled his new weapon into the air. Genjuro, thinking quickly, held his own sword up and parried the blow, although Link was definitely stronger with the huge weapon. Link smirked slyly as he started to force Genjuro back towards the ropes.

Once the Hero of Time had forced the purple-haired swordsman back far enough, he took action. Link pulled the Biggoron sword back and lashed out with it quickly. Genjuro parried the blow again, but staggered back even further. Link put the sword away and grabbed the Hylian Shield in his arms with both hands. Swinging it like a weapon, Link struck Genjuro across the face with the shield, resulting in a very painful sound.

Link quickly grabbed and threw the angry swordsman out of the arena while he still had the chance.

"Well, that's that." Link said. He looked around the arena. "Now, where'd the Master Sword get to?"

Meanwhile, King and Jigglypuff were fighting Ryu, whom was definitely holding his own against the two. Lashing out a fireball, Ryu struck Jigglypuff to send her from the arena, but the round Pokemon easily floated back in.

Ryu held up his arms as King's foot slammed into them, blocking her kick. Ryu lowered his arms just in time for Jigglypuff to slam a stubby flipper into his cheek.

The young martial artist staggered back and rubbed his face. "Very impressive. You two make a good team."

King smirked. "Thank you, Ryu. But unfortunately, that won't stop us from eliminating you." Leaping into the air, King lashed out a Trap Shot. The projectile soared straight at Ryu, but the young man quickly leapt to the side.

Ryu was so focused on King coming at him in a flurry of kicks that he didn't notice Jigglypuff sit down and slowly start spinning in place until she was spinning rapidly.

"PUFF!" Jigglypuff screamed as she shot forward in a high-speed ball of pink.

Ryu couldn't block the attack in time and could only watch as Jigglypuff slammed into his knee with amazing power. Ryu hunched over in pain and grasped his knee, but that didn't stop King from driving her foot into his face. King and Jigglypuff quickly started attacking Ryu while the young man was reduced to simply trying to block rather than counter.

In the meantime, Larcen and Kagemaru were approaching the battle Toppo (with the Master Sword) and Shiba were having against Lion Rafale.

"Two against one." Larcen said. "I think I'll even the odds by eliminating one of those two."

Kagemaru nodded. "You go ahead. You let me eliminate that reptilian scientist."

Larcen quickly grabbed his grappling hook and spun it around a few times before throwing it towards the lights again. The grappling hook wrapped around one of the beams tightly, and Larcen tugged on it a couple of times to test it.

Once he was satisfied, Larcen stepped back a couple of steps before running forward and leaping into the air, sailing at Shiba with his feet outstretched.

Toppo turned his head in time to see Larcen coming. He tapped Shiba on the shoulder and pointed in Larcen's direction. Shiba turned in time to see Larcen's feet getting dangerously close to his face.

"Ack!" Shiba shouted as he ducked out of harm's way. Larcen, taken aback by Shiba's avoidance, sailed over the lizardman. This threw Larcen off, and he started spinning out of control, careening around the arena. As Larcen struggled to regain control of which way he was going, he suddenly saw that he was flying feet-first towards the trio of Ryu, King and Jigglypuff.

"Get outta the way!" Larcen shouted.

King and Jigglypuff turned to see Larcen coming, kicking the air and trying to stop himself. Unfortunately, there was nothing anyone could do. Larcen's feet slammed into Jigglypuff, sending the round Pokemon out of the arena. This time, she didn't have any time to float back in.

Jigglypuff landed in Kareoke Revolution, where she got unanimous results (she would have won the competition, but she put the judges to sleep).

**(Possum Lodge) **

"It's time for the Possum Lodge Word Game!" Mike Hammer shouted excitedly. The audience went ballistic as Mike approached the round table where Red Green was sitting with a newly-arrived Genjuro.

"Today, Mr. Genjuro here is playing for this real delicious piece of Pepper Steak!" Mike held up a huge piece of steak with his hands. "Be sure that you have a lot of water when you eat this and get ready to call the fire department afterwards." He looked at Genjuro. "Mr. Genjuro? Cover your ears."

Genjuro shrugged and covered his ears as Mike picked up a small sign.

"Mr. Green? You have thirty seconds to get Mr. Genjuro to say this word:" Mike turned the sign around, showing the word 'kill'. "Kill…Kill…"

"Yeah, alright, Mike." Red sighed, annoyed.

"Oh, right." Mike quickly put the sign down. "And go!" Genjuro quickly uncovered his ears.

"Alright, Genjuro. When you murder someone, you…"

"Make me happy." Genjuro replied simply.

"Uh…No." Red said. "You're a swordsman, so you must have done this to a lot of people."

"Made fun of them for not having a weapon?" Genjuro asked.

Red was silent. "…Okay...Okay, you want to do this to your sworn rival."

Genjuro stayed quiet for a few seconds. "…Haohmaru…" He seethed. "When I get my hands on him, I'll defeat him in a sword battle single-handedly and then make fun at him for being such a pathetic loser and complete wimp at sword fighting. Then I shall drive my sword through his stomach and taking extreme pleasure in ridding the world of his pathetic life. Then, to ensure his death I will repeatedly jump up and down many times on his so-called 'legendary' body and scream various insults into his ears as I drag him all over the village to show everyone that I killed him and-"

"I heard it in there somewhere!" Red said as he repeatedly slammed his palm onto a bell on the table. The audience errupted in cheers as Genjuro snapped out of his constant rambling. Mike shoved the huge piece of Pepper Steak into the hands.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

"_Maybe joining Bison wasn't such a good idea."_ Ash Crimson thought as another basketball bounced off his head. Ash staggered back and had about three seconds to himself before a yo-yo slammed into the other side of his head.

Despite Ash's team consisting of two giants like Valgas and the Rhino, they were still getting wasted. Lucky Glauber and his team-mates Ryoko and Bridget were, to be frank, demolishing the evil team. Then again, all three of the evil fighters had fatigue weighing them down. Valgas still had a headache from his defeat from Chang Koehan, the Rhino still was feeling a little woozy after his fight against the Tinto soldiers Samus and Reed, and Ash Crimson was still trying to recover after Gadget Z humiliated him in the Eliminated Seating.

Ryoko shoved her hands out, firing an energy blast at Valgas. The spiky-haired giant felt the full effects of the attack and was sent flying into the wall. As the giant man landed on the ground and slowly stood up, bits of access concrete from the wall lightly tapped against his head.

"You'll pay for that, girl!" Valgas growled. "It's not enough that a fat loser defeats me, but now I'm losing to a pathetic little girl!"

A split second later and Valgas was attacking from behind, receiving a very painful blow to the head. Lucky Glauber stood over him.

"That'll teach you to pick on little girls!" Lucky shouted.

"Thank you, Mr. Glauber." Ryoko smirked and rolled up her sleeves. "But I think I can handle this."

Lucky nodded. "Okay. You go, girl." With that, Lucky quickly turned around and did an instant Cyclone Break, slamming his heel into the Rhino's forehead.

Bridget was having an easy time, as his opponent was nowhere near as strong as the others. Now the bounty hunter could almost see why the prettyboy had done so horribly in the ring. Lashing out his hand, Bridget sent another yo-yo at Ash, making it bounce off his knee. As Ash quickly grasped his knee in pain, Bridget ran at him, leapt into the air and landed a hard kick to the face.

"Boy, if this is how you fight, the KOF Tournaments must REALLY be lacking talent." Bridget said as he kicked Ash in the side.

Ash ignited his fist in fury. "At least I don't look like a girl!" He shouted as he lashed out his hand, sending a wave of green flames at Bridget.

The young bounty hunter quickly leaned to the side, avoiding the flames (which, in turn, set Valgas' pants on fire). "I wouldn't be so sure about that." Bridget smirked.

Ash's eyes snapped open as he let out an infuriated scream. "You're almost as bad as that stupid malfunctioning robot!" He roared.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Bridget replied as he spun another yo-yo in the air, doing a round-the-world, which slammed into Ash's chin.

Valgas quickly slapped his pants, putting out the fire that Ash's flames had started. "Man. That idiot is going to get me killed."

"Before or after I pound you into a pulp?" Ryoko asked as she grabbed Valgas' arm.

The giant stared in shock as Ryoko showed more strength than possible for someone her age and size as she flipped Valgas, whom was at least three times her size, over her shoulder.

Valgas landed on his side and looked at Ryoko with wide eyes. "But…How'd you do that?"

Ryoko smirked. "Surprised that a little girl just kicked your butt?" She asked as she released another energy blast from her hands, sending it straight into Valgas' forehead.

Lucky lifted his arm into the air. The Rhino watched as a basketball fell from the sky and landed in his palm. The mutant man was so busy looking around to find out where the orange ball had come from that he didn't notice Lucky throwing it at him. The basketball slammed into the Rhino's face, stunning him.

"If this is what the villains we're going to be up against are like, I don't think we have anything to worry about." Lucky smirked. "First that Setsuna fellow and now you three. You guys are all snaps to beat."

The Rhino growled. "I'll make you eat those words, punk!"

Lucky watched as the Rhino charged forward in a flying headbutt. The lanky basketball player leapt into the air and waited until the Rhino was underneath him. Once he was, Lucky drove both of his feet into the top of the mutant man's head, sending him to the ground.

Seeing that this was his chance to finish the battle, Lucky sprang forward. "LUCKY DRIVER!" He shouted as he flipped onto his hands and did a handspring into the air, twirling in circles, both of his feet outstretched. The Rhino was caught in the attack and was lifted of the ground by Lucky's propeller flurry of kicks.

After Lucky's attack finished, the Rhino was still hanging two feet in the air. The gray mutant fell the rest of the way until he landed on his back, defeated.

Lucky landed gracefully on his feet and dusted his hands off. "Heh. All brawn and no brains. I figured that." He looked around to see how his young friends were faring. "Ryoko? Bridget?"

As it turned out, Lucky's friends had managed to finish their respective battles as well. Ryoko has apparently finished a good while ago and was sitting on Valgas' unconscious body. Bridget delivered one final yo-yo strike, sending Ash to the ground for the final time.

"Well guys. Now we just need to go find Amy Guile before she gets-" Lucky started.

"Will Lucky Glauber please report to the ready room? You enter the ring in the next section." SSBFreak's voice came through the speakers.

Lucky sighed. "Well, it looks like you guys are on your own. I gotta get to the arena. With any luck, D! will still be there and I'll be able to give him a full report on what's happened so far."

Ryoko and Bridget nodded, Ryoko responding with an 'Okay'.

With that, Lucky ran off to get ready to enter the arena, leaving Ryoko and Bridget standing amongst three defeated villains.

Bridget quickly grabbed Ryoko's shoulder and pulled her aside. No sooner as he did that when a screaming Electro flew past them, all five of the security force leaders chasing him.

**(The Arena) **

Shingo Yabuki decided all too late never to bother a seven-foot lizard with a giant sword again. Shiba blocked every punch the young boy threw, and all it took to throw Shingo across the arena was a simple grab and throw.

Shingo landed on his side about twenty feet away from Shiba, whom had now resumed helping Toppo. The younger fighter was tempted to go try and take down Shiba again, but decided against it. Turning around, Shingo started walking off to find someone else to fight.

Kagemaru jumped away from an ensuing battle between King and Ryu and landed right in front of Shingo.

"Say, blue ninja, would you like a battle? You see, I'm currently without an opponent." Shingo asked.

Kage scratched his head, then shrugged. "Okay, but just remember that I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're a kid."

Shingo nodded. "I understand."

Shingo ran at Kagemaru, whom simply stood still, staring at him.

"Shingo Kick!" The young fighter shouted as he lunged at his opponent in a flying kick.

Kage simply swerved to the side and allowed Shingo to pass by him. Once Shingo had flown by, Kage quickly attacked him with his fist. As Shingo staggered forward, Kage leapt into the air and landed on his opponent's back, feet-first.

Shingo quickly leapt to his feet, pushing Kage off his back. Spinning around, the younger fighter lashed out his fist, creating a small spark of flames. Kage quickly held up his hands and blocked the attack.

"Unfortunately for you, I must finish this." Kage said. "My node hasn't been doing especially well so far. I need the elimination."

Before Shingo had time to react, Kage grasped his hand even tighter and threw Shingo over his shoulder. This sent the younger fighter out of the arena with no hope of getting back in.

Shingo landed in the node of The Three Stooges. It was quickly re-named to 'The Four Stooges'.

Lion Rafale, Kage's nodal companion, was having a rougher time fighting Toppo and Shiba. And now that Toppo was holding the Master Sword made things even tougher. Lion lashed out his fists and struck Shiba in the stomach, stalling the lizardman long enough for Lion to land his foot against his head. Toppo quickly lashed out with his new weapon and made a deep cut in the back of Lion's shirt.

The young fighter quickly leapt into the air and flipped over Toppo before striking the silent juggler with his foot in midair.

"What is it with you guys and double-teaming?" Lion asked. "Everywhere I look, there's at least two of you guys teaming up!"

"It's not our fault that we have a lot of people." Shiba shrugged. "At least two of us enter every section."

Lion sighed. It was times like this that made him with there were more fighters in his node.

Nevertheless, Lion continued fighting. Although he hated to admit it, he was starting to weaken.

Meanwhile, Larcen was still swinging around wildly, gripping the rope attached to his grappling hook for dear life. Kicking the air as he flew around the arena uncontrollably, Larcen was shouting at everyone in his path to get out of the way. After accidentally eliminating Jigglypuff, Larcen had almost done the same with Link, Heavy D! and R. Mika.

Looking ahead, Larcen saw that he was flying towards King again. "Look out!" He shouted.

Luckily, King spotted Larcen coming at him, but the burglar wasn't exactly thrilled about her way of avoiding him. Leaping into the air, King slammed her foot into Larcen's stomach, sending him flying in a completely different direction, back-first.

Unknown to Larcen, he was flying towards the battle Lion was having with Toppo and Shiba.

Of all the things Toppo and Shiba were expecting to happen, Larcen flying in between them and slamming into Lion with his back wasn't one of them. Like Jigglypuff, Lion was sent flying out of the arena from the attack as Larcen continued spinning wildly out of control.

Lion landed in LEGO Star Wars. He attacked and destroyed Darth Sideous, but the dark LEGO character's head promptly ricocheted off his head.

"That guy stole our elimination!" Shiba shouted as he watched Larcen twirl out of control, still hanging onto the grappling rope. "Let's get him, Toppo!"

Toppo was about to nod his head when Rainbow Mika tackled Shiba from the side. "He didn't mean to!" She shouted at the lizardman.

Shiba groaned as he got to his feet. "Look, missy. I don't want any trouble." He assured. "I just want to eliminate that guy."

Mika quickly dropped into her stance. "You'll have to get through me first!"

Shiba sighed, realizing that there was no way around a fight now. "Very well. It looks like I'll have to beat some sense into you."

The giant lizardman lashed out his weapon, attempting to strike Mika in the side. The female wrestler, seeing this coming, leapt into the air and arched over her attacker. Landing behind Shiba, Mika leapt into the air and kicked with both feet, slamming them into the square of the giant's back. As Mika landed gracefully on her feet, Shiba staggered forward a couple of steps.

Toppo would have helped his fellow nodal companion, but Larcen had chosen that particular time to collide with him, knocking the silent juggler (and the Master Sword) several feet away from the battle.

Shiba turned around to try and attack Mika, but the first thing he saw was Mika's hip coming at his face.

"RAIN-BOW!" Mika shouted as her hip collided with Shiba's face, knocking the giant reptile back even further.

Mika ran at Shiba and leapt into the air in what looked like an uppercut headbutt. The female wrestler's head collided with Shiba's chin, sending him into the air a good seven feet.

Deciding to finish the battle, Mika ran underneath the falling lizardman and held out her arms, catching him. Then, Mika proceeded to flip over several times in succession, slamming Shiba into the canvas several times in a row. After about the fifth time, Shiba was feeling too dizzy to try and do any more. He was easy pickings for Mika to boot out of the arena.

Shiba landed in Donkey Kong Country 3. Dixie mistook him for a Kremling and started jumping on his head, wondering why this wouldn't defeat him.

Ryu lashed out another fireball, which King tiredly blocked with her leg. Fatigue was really starting to weigh the female Thai fighter down, although she kept pressing on to prevent herself from falling.

"You have to fall sooner or later." Ryu said as he narrowed his eyes. "You've been in the arena long enough."

Breathing heavily, King lashed out a Venom Strike, which slammed into Ryu's chest. Clutching his gi, Ryu stepped back in pain, but quickly regained his composure.

Ryu lunged at King and sent his fist into the air in a Dragon Uppercut. King felt the full force of the blast, as Ryu's fist slammed into her chin, sending the bartender into the air a good several feet.

In the air, King quickly repositioned herself and lashe dout her foot before she hit the ground, managing to catch Ryu in the side of the face.

After she landed on the ground, King ran at Ryu again and thrust her foot into his face again, knocking him away. King lashed out a couple of Trap Shots at Ryu, further stalling him. This allowed King about ten seconds to try and recover as much energy as she could before Ryu got up and ran at her again.

Once he got within range, Ryu leapt into the air and started kicking wildly, spinning in circles. King managed to bring her arms up to block the attack, but not before Ryu landed five kicks to her face.

As soon as Ryu performed his final kick, King struck him in midair with her knee, knocking him away from her again. Ryu landed on his back, but quickly rolled into a standing position.

Ryu, deciding to end the fight, pulled his hands back and started gathering energy. King's eyes snapped open, realizing what was going to happen next, and unless she did something quick, she'd be eliminated for sure.

The martial artist lashed out his hands, firing a huge beam of fire energy at King. Ryu himself was so blinded by his attack that he didn't notice King at all.

Once the attack finished, the beam of energy died down. Once Ryu could see clearly again, he could see that King was no longer in sight. Ryu sighed, knowing that he had finally eliminated his opponent.

"Trap Shot!"

Ryu realized all too late that King had avoided his attack. After receiving a Trap Shot to the stomach, Ryu was grabbed and thrown out of the arena.

Ryu landed in River City Ransom. He aided Alex and Ryan in taking down the Dragon Twins.

Back in the arena, King sighed in relief. After all her hard work, she had finally eliminated Ryu.

"You!" A feminine voice screamed angrily.

King turned and saw Rainbow Mika charging at her. "You eliminated Ryu!" She shouted accusingly.

King had about three seconds to look around the arena before Mika pounced her. Toppo, still wielding the Master Sword, was still trying to stop Larcen, whom was still spinning wildly out of control. Link, the owner of the Master Sword, was busy in a spar with Heavy D!. Kagemaru simply sat down to recover his energy before the next wave of fighters entered.

And judging by how the two hands floating above the arena were laughing again, that time would be really soon.

**RESULTS**

RAINBOW MIKA (SFA3)

KAGEMARU (VF)

LARCEN TYLER (EC)

HEAVY D! (KOF)

TOPPO (S3)

KING (KOF)

LINK (SSB)

**(ELIMINATED)**

CHANG KOEHAN (KOF)

BUSUZIMA (BR4)

SHIBA (S3)

SHINGO YABUKI (KOF)

FALCO LOMBARDI (SSB)

SETH (KOF)

GENJURO (SS)

RYU (SFA3)

LION RAFALE (VF)

JIGGLYPUFF (SSB)

LEE CHAOLAN (T5)

SPIRAL (MC)

FUUMA (WH)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Towering Titan" **

EIJI KISARAGI (KOF 95) and JULIA CHANG (T5) _**cut down**_ JUGGERNAUT (MC)

"**Creepy Villains" **

LUCKY GLAUBER (KOF), RYOKO (WH) and BRIDGET (GG)

_**take down **_

VALGAS (PS), THE RHINO (MC) and ASH CRIMSON (KOF)

Eliminations: Mika, Kage and Larcen, 2; D!, Toppo, King, Link, Chang, Busuzima and Shiba, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: Bruce Irvin (6), Heavy D! (5), King (5), Chang Koehan (5), Jubei Yagyu (4), Watari (4), Athena Asamiya (4)

**Behold, Ninja Power:** Kagemaru is the first Virtua Fighter to score two eliminations. Not bad for a plain ninja…


	18. Section Eight

**(The Arena) **

All seven fighters in the arena looked up at Master Hand and Crazy Hand. As the two started spinning around in midair, the spike sticking out of the middle of the arena shrank back into the canvas.

Suddenly, the remaining fighters started feeling the arena shake. After a few seconds, everyone started noticing pieces of the arena falling off. Toppo and Heavy D! had to leap to safety to avoid falling into elimination.

When the earthquake subsided, the arena was now in the shape of a star, but the ropes around the edges were still in the shape of a square, providing huge gaps for easy eliminations.

"You fighters had better watch out now!" Unknown1 laughed. "Gaps that size are big enough for the largest of fighters to fall through!"

Suddenly, everyone heard the distinct sound of Thousand Foot Krutch coming from the speakers. The seven fighters turned towards the entrance curtain.

"**MEL!" (S3) **

"_It's all around me" _

"_I can't wish this away" _

"_You so amaze me" _

"_You took my monster away"_

"Here we go, Branky!" The dark-haired Mel told her wolf-puppet excitedly. "We're going into the arena to get as many eliminations as possible to help our node!"

"Oh, boy!" Branky 'replied'. "It's going to be so much fun taking everyone down!"

"_Wake me! C'mon and wake me up now!" _

"_I want to cut off my strings and break" _

"_Loose of your control of me" _

"_Cut your strings and break free with me!" _

Mel leapt into the arena and quickly rushed to help Toppo with Larcen. Leaping into the air, Mel slammed Branky's head into the burglar's back, finally knocking him off his grappling rope.

"_Everybody, shake your body" _

"_Lift your hands" _

"_Stop fronting, you're just a puppet" _

"_Everybody, shake your body" _

"_Lift your hands" _

"_Stop fronting, you're just a puppet!"_

"Ugh…Thanks, kid." Larcen said as he got to his feet.

"Thanks? We were trying to kill you!" Branky exclaimed.

Mel looked at her puppet angrily. "Branky! Don't be rude!" Without another word, Mel walked over to a turnbuckle and started beating Branky against it. "Say it! Apologize!"

"Owowowowowowow! Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!"

Larcen reached under his fedora and scratched his head. Realizing that he had seen stranger things, he turned, only to duck as the Master Sword, Toppo still wielding it, soared over his head.

"**FRANCO BASH!" (FF) **

Stepping out from behind the curtain, Franco pounded his fists together before running down to the ring.

Heavy D! saw him come in and smirked. "Finally. Another boxer." He said. He approached Franco and put up his fists. "Let's see how powerful your punches are, Bash."

Imagine D!'s surprise when Franco, being a Thai fighter, shot his foot forward.

D! staggered back, clutching his jaw. "You're a Thai fighter?" He asked.

Franco nodded with a smirk. "You sound surprised."

"Great." D! muttered. "Now it looks like I'll have to wait for Steve Fox to come out before I fight a boxer."

"**PEACH TOADSTOOL!" (SSB) **

As the Super Mario Bros. 3 theme came through the speakers, Peach came out from behind the curtain, waved a few times and blew some kisses before getting to the bottom of the ramp.

Link turned just in time to see Peach hover into the arena. Once Peach landed on her feet, she ran over to him to see what was up. "Link, why are you walking around with the Butterfly Net instead of the Master Sword?"

The Hero of Time scratched his head nervously. "Well…You see…While I was fighting this purple-haired swordsman, I kinda…Lost it." Link replied.

Peach's eyes snapped open. "You LOST the Master Sword? What'll Zelda think if she found out?"

"She doesn't have to." Link assured. "I just need to find the Master Sword before I return to the Locker Room."

"But…Isn't this being played everywhere around the dome and hotel?" Peach asked.

Link paled.

**(SSB Locker Room) **

Everyone instantly looked at Zelda and saw that she was looking at the ground, although she was turning beet red.

"Uh…Is there anything wrong, Zelda?" Roy asked, almost afraid to speak up.

Steam started shooting from Zelda's ears. "He…Lost…The…Master…SWORD!"

Zelda leapt out of her seat and wrapped her fingers around Roy's neck. "He lost the freaking Master Sword, you moron! Of COURSE nothing's wrong!"

After everyone saw that it took the combined efforts of Luigi, Mewtwo and Bowser to pry Zelda off of Roy, they were tempted to search the dome for a straitjacket.

**(Hotel; Sagat's Room) **

Sagat lay on the floor, doing push-ups with one arm behind his back. After Ryu had scored his elimination against Scorpion, Sagat had come back to his room to start training for his rematch after the tournament was over.

"I must be in top condition if my fight with Ryu is going to be fair." Sagat said to himself. "If he did any better than I did, I must train even harder."

"You'll not need to worry about that any more."

Instantly recognizing the new voice, Sagat sprang into a standing position and spun around, not surprised to find himself staring at M. Bison.

"What do you want, scum?" Sagat spat. He had no intention of coming within twenty feet of Bison or even considering rejoining Shadaloo if given the chance.

"Scum?" Bison asked with an evil smirk. "I'd be more careful if I were you. You see, I have a job offer for you.""

"Not interested." Sagat said quickly. "In you OR your organization. If that was all you came for, I suggest you leave."

"I'm afraid you have no choice." Bison replied as he lunged forward in a Psycho Crusher. Sagat, unprepared for this attack, flew back-first into the far wall.

Sagat slowly stood up and glared at Bison, but he still was prepared, as Bison lashed out his hand, firing an orb of dark energy at Sagat.

"Sagat! Look out!" The giant man suddenly felt himself getting tackled from the side, knocking him out of harm's way. Looking up at his rescuer, Sagat's good eye widened.

"Bruce?"

A freshly recovered Bruce Irvin looked over his shoulder at Sagat. "I'll take this creep on! You go get help!"

Sagat shook his head. "No. I can't let you fight him alone."

"You're injured!" Bruce insisted. "You're in no condition to fight!"

Sagat sighed. "Okay. I'll be back as quick as I can. Good luck, Bruce."

Bison tried to stop Sagat from escaping, but Bruce slammed his knee into the dictator's head, allowing Sagat to run out the door.

"You'll pay for that with your life, my friend." Bison said to Bruce.

Bruce got into his stance. "Bring it!"

**(Hotel; Cafeteria) **

"…And now we found you here." Julia finished telling Rasputin the story. It had taken her a good deal to get through the whole story, especially after Eiji had experienced two massive pain attacks during her explanation.

Rasputin, Rose, Nightwolf and Tikal had all paled, and the two new fiends had noticed this. "What seems to be the problem?" Eiji asked.

"I was afraid this was why we felt two extremely strong elemental powers coming from the came area." Rasputain said, his eyes wide. "This is bad. Very bad."

Eiji was now extremely interested. "What? What is it?"

"You see, no normal human body is supposed to be able to wield two elemental powers of this strength." Rose explained. "Fire and water are the absolute worst kinds to put together."

"Why?" Julia asked. "Is Eiji is danger?"

"Very much so." Rasputin nodded. "You see, when two elemental forces are held in the same body, they start to want to take full control. Soon, the two elements have an all-out control war with the host stuck in the middle."

Suddenly, as if to clarify Rasputin's statement, Eiji's body lurched back as he howled in pain again. His body held a red aura, then a blue aura before finally reverting back to normal.

"What's the cure?" Julia asked, clearly wanting to help Eiji.

Tikal sighed sadly. "There IS no cure. The only way for this to end is if one or both of the elements willingly leave Eiji's body. Until then, we can do absolutely nothing."

Eiji's skin turned as white as a ghost. "So, there's nothing anyone can do?"

"I'm sorry, my friend." Rasputin sighed. "But no, there is not."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Julia asked.

"The only thing we CAN do is go to those two ninjas and see what they know." Rasputin replied. "I enter in the same section as Mezu, but you two must look for those ninjas and see if they know anything on these elements."

Eiji sighed. "Thank you for trying, sir." He said. "Come on, Julia. Let's go."

**(The Arena) **

"**BRYAN FURY!" (T5) **

The white haired cyborg cop shoved the curtain aside as he came onto the ramp. Looking down at the arena, Bryan smirked at the lack of apparent challengers and adjusted his vest before running down to the arena.

Bryan's first instincts were to go for the one that had the most fatigue. Currently, that was Heavy D!. However, Bryan couldn't make it very far, as King, whom had knocked R. Mika away a few seconds ago, stepped in his way.

"You stay away from him." King said sternly. "I've heard of you and about how you always play cheap."

Bryan smirked. "It's such a pity that I have to harm such a lovely face."

King shuddered at Bryan's voice, which she didn't find attractive in the least. "Sorry, pal. I'm taken."

"By who?"

"Ryo Sakazaki." King explained. "And if you try anything with me, not only will I pound you into a pulp, but Ryo will make sure that you eat through a straw for all of next month."

Normally, when Bryan was threatened like that, he would have laughed, but since King had said 'Ryo Sakazaki', he wasn't so sure if it was such a good idea to hit on her.

"**WILLIAM GUILE!" (SFA3) **

"_It's better not to look back or should we dust off our journals" _

"_Stare deep through the feedback for the new day" _

"_Like the distortion has things to say"_

Guile walked down to the ring as Downhere began to play. The military man with the tall hair rolled his shoulders before saluting to the crowd.

"_Is it better to ignore it, that these bomb shelters are built of sand" _

"_Scoring themes from our views, making movies of tragic news" _

"_Does this helpless picnic have its own Neverland?"_

However, while Guile was focused on winning the tournament for his family, he was completely oblivious to the fact that his only daughter was being targeted for an evil plot led by the man he despised the most, M. Bison. Guile jumped into the arena.

"_They say America never hurts" _

"_They say America never cries" _

"_Like no one's lonely in America" _

"_Like no one's lonely in America"_

Once he hit the arena, Guile quickly saw Bryan Fury attacking R. Mika. Thinking quickly, Guile lashed out a Sonic Boom, sending Bryan into the awaiting arms of Toppo, whom quickly started attacking the zombie-cyborg with the Master Sword.

Mika nodded. "Thanks, Guile."

"No problem." Guile replied. "Mika, I know this may sound like I'm asking a lot, but I need you to try and survive this section."

"Sure, but what for?"

"Bison enters in the next section." Guile replied. "I'm going to need help taking him down."

Mika nodded. "Okay."

"**LUCKY GLAUBER!" (KOF) **

As it turned out, Lucky had made it to the ready room just as his name was announced. Lucky leapt out from behind the curtain, almost completely out of breath. After catching his breath, Lucky waved to the crowd (which was giving him a surprisingly loud cheer) and pumped his fist into the air several times before running down to the ring.

"Hey, D!" Lucky called out.

Heavy D! turned just in time to see Lucky jump into the arena. The tall basketball player ran over to his friend. Once Lucky got close enough, the two friends high-fived.

"It's good to see that you're still in the ring, man." Lucky said.

D! nodded. "How's the mission coming?" He asked.

Lucky sighed. "Not great. We found Amy Guile, but some creeps had beaten us to her. Ryoko, Bridget and I walloped a few of the villains, but the fourth one ran off after Amy. Ryoko and Bridget went off after them.

D! nodded. "Say. Has Nightcrawler met up with you guys yet?"

Lucky raised an eyebrow. "Nightcrawler? No. When was he eliminated?"

"At least three sections ago." D! replied, looking just as confused. He turned towards the Eliminated Seating and saw a cloud of purple smoke rising from a now-empty seat.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Nightcrawler materialized alone and looked around nervously. "I can't BELIEVE zat I forgot about ze mission!" He said. "Eet looks like I have to do theengs myself, zen."

**(Diamond City, Streets) **

Lee Chaolan chuckled as he drove down a country road in Diamond City on Mona's red scooter, towards the house belonging to Wario. Mona, sitting behind the silver-haired man was bound arm and leg with duct tape.

"This'll be the easiest money I've ever gotten." Lee said. "I'll take you to Wario and demand that he hand over a fairly large portion of his money in exchange for you."

Mona would have shouted an insult at Lee, but there was very little she could shout with her mouth covered with a cloth.

"Don't worry, my dear." Lee said smugly. "If you're as good a friend to Wario as you say you are, I'm sure that he'll make the exchange without a second thought."

Lee looked ahead again and continued to pilot the scooter down the road, humming a very annoying tune (Mona figured that it wouldn't have been that bad if Lee wasn't completely tone-deaf).

Suddenly, Lee's humming was brought to an abrupt halt. Lee felt something big and round smash into the side of his head, knocking him off the scooter completely. The wielder of the huge weapon stopped the scooter with a huge hand.

Lee landed on the grass and shook his head to clear it. Looking at Mona, he saw her rescuer standing in front of her, seething at him. Lee's mouth went completely dry.

"You criminal scum!" Chang Koehan shouted, brandishing his iron wrecking ball (which Shiba had thrown out of the ring earlier). "You have some nerve doing this to a poor, helpless woman!"

Lee quickly stood up. "Hey, now! Can you really blame me? I just needed some extra cash!"

Another Kim-like glint came from Chang's eye, showing that he was extremely ticked-off. "'The Koehan' shall make absolute certain that you never do this again!"

Mona, still sitting on her scooter, watched as Chang swung his iron ball at Lee. All she could do was hope this mysterious superhero could save her.

**(The Arena) **

"**HANZO HATTORI!" (SS) **

A loud cheer erupted from the crowd as the familiar black-clad ninja came out from behind the curtain. Hanzo ran down to the arena and leapt into the air. While still over the elimination field, Hanzo vanished into the air, leaving a log to fall through the vortex (where it landed directly on top of Dr. Wily's head in the Megaman node).

When Hanzo appeared in the arena, he saw that his aim was perfect. He had appeared directly in front of Kagemaru, whom had finally stood up, his energy replenished.

"Ah. Another ninja." Kage said. "It pleases me to see how well we've been doing in the tournament."

Hanzo nodded. "Quite. You and Galford managed two eliminations and that Watari fellow managed four." He replied. "Hopefully, I will be able to do just as well."

Kage nodded. "Well, shall we fight?"

"Let's."

"**KING LION!" (KE) **

King Lion wasn't sure how his chances would be in the arena now, especially after how badly Max Eagle and Hayate had managed. Now there were two ninjas, a psychotic cyber-zombie, a super-strong American soldier, a furious female wrestler and a juggler wielding a strange sword in the arena. King Lion sighed as he jumped into the arena. He figured that he may as well get this over with.

The first thing King Lion tried to do was go for Heavy D!, being a boxer and all, but when he saw D! and Lucky fighting Franco Bash, he decided against it.

Unfortunately for King Lion, R. Mika saw him come in. Knocking King away, Mika ran at King Lion and tackled him to the ground.

"Okay, pal! Your friend Chaolan wouldn't say anything, but I bet that you'll crack a little easier!" With that, Mika showed an unusual amount of strength again and picked King Lion up, slamming him into the ground.

King Lion kept asking why he was cursed with such bad luck.

"**G. DONE!" (GF) **

When G. Done came out from behind the curtain, he wasn't expecting a loud cheer, but was surprised when he actually heard a surprising amount of people in the audience cheering for him. G. Done looked around the stands in amazement before nodding and starting his trek to the arena.

Craig Marduk, whom had returned from the recovery room after his defeat at the hands of Cranky Kong, laughed heartily. "Is that your name? What the heck kinda name is G. Done?"

Five seconds later and Marduk was flying back into the eliminatinon vortex. He landed in Unreal Championship like Ash and Spiral did, but with his arm in a sling, there was very little he could do to prevent himself from getting blasted.

Almost instantly, the cheer for G. Done got a heck of a lot louder. The streetfighter continued his trek to the arena, a little more confident now.

G. Done hit the ring and instantly ran at Larcen, whom was still dodging attacks from Toppo. Thrusting his fist out, G. Done slammed it into Larcen's back, knocking the burglar down.

The newest fighter looked at Toppo. "Need a hand?" G. Done asked.

Toppo nodded, silently thanking him.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Jin Chonrei and Vivian walked down the hallway quietly, making sure that they didn't make any noises. They were currently trying to find King's brother Jan before any of these villains got to him.

"Where could he be?" Vivian asked Chonrei. "He wasn't in his seat in the audience."

"I don't know." Chonrei sighed as rubbed his temples. "I honestly don't know."

"You don't suppose we're too late, do you, Chonrei?" Vivian asked fearfully.

"I hope not." Chonrei said before something caught his eye. Looking down the hallway, Chonrei saw Vega, one of the two that had come into the storage room, talking with Anna Williams. "But I think I know a way of how we could find out."

Vivian nodded. "Got it." Grabbing Chonrei again, Vivian sank into the floor, turning both young-looking fighters into a shadow on the floor so they could listen in.

"So, did you get the boy?" Vega asked.

Anna nodded. "It was a piece of cake, really. And with his big sister in the ring, we'll have nothing to worry about." She replied with a smirk. "So, how many targets do we have left?"

"We're getting there." Vega replied. "But I think the next one we should focus on is that squire of Christ Lightfellow. He isn't a fighter at all and we'll be able to overpower him easily."

Feeling that they had heard enough, Vivian and Chonrei rose from the floor, each of them with stern expressions on their faces.

Vega saw the two rise from the floor as his eyes widened. "Those two heard us!" He shouted. "They actually heard us!"

Anna puts up her fists. "You go on. I'll take these two brats." She said. "I won't be a minute."

Vega nodded and rushed off, leaving Chonrei and Vivian to face Anna Williams.

Vivian snapped her fingers, creating a flame. "We've heard enough, lady! You and your buddies are going down!"

Anna smirked. "We'll just have to see about that."

**(The Arena) **

"**JOKER!" (S3) **

Joker appeared on the ramp with a bottle of brandy in his hand. Thinking quickly, the purple-clad mercenary downed the rest of the bottle and chucked it into the elimination vortex before running down to the ring (his bottle landed safely on the ground, but Tony Hawk quickly tripped over it).

Once he entered the arena, Joker looked around at his surroundings to see if his nodal companions needed any help. Toppo seemed to be doing fine (although the fact that he was wielding a strange-looking sword confused the middle-aged man a little), and Mel was currently banging Branky against a turnbuckle again as her current opponent, Guile, looked on in confusion.

Deciding to start his own fight, Joker ran at Link and lashed out his palm, attempting to strike the Hero of Time. However, Link saw the attack coming and held up a strange, blue staff rather than the Master Sword. Joker's palm struck Link's staff, dealing no damage.

"Not bad reflexes, I must admit." Joker said.

Link smirked. "Now let's see how good YOURS are."

In the blink of an eye, Link pulled out the Megaton Hammer from behind his back and raised it above his head.

Joker smirked as he dove out of the way in time for the hammer to smash into the canvas. It looked like he was going to actually have a challenge taking him down.

**(Sound Booth) **

"Do you guys have any more suggestions for music?" Shadow asked his two new friends.

Astaroth scratched his bald head as he searched through a box of CD's. "I can't seem to find any at the moment." He admitted.

Aila suddenly spotted a CD and looked at it curiously. "Hey Shadow? I think I may have found something, but this CD confuses me."

"What is it, Aila?" Shadow asked.

The Karayan girl passed him the CD. "The CD only has one song on it, but it's still fifty minutes long." She explained.

Shadow looked over the CD, and once he did, his eyes lit up. "Who's next?"

Astaroth picked up the list and showed it to Shadow. Almost instantly, the CD was in Astaroth's giant hands.

"Put it on!" Shadow said. "Quickly! This'll be good!"

Astaroth shrugged and went over to the stereo system.

**(The Arena) **

"**BAO!" (KOF) **

"_This is the song that doesn't end" _

"_Yes, it goes on and on, my friend" _

"_Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was" _

"_Now everybody's singing it forever just because"_

Bao came out from behind the curtain that was could be the most annoying song ever written. As Bao merrily marched down to the arena, a lot of the people in the audience started covering their ears in annoyance. And the strangest thing? Bao actually LIKED the song. After bobbing his head to the music, Bao skipped the rest of the way down to the ring.

"_This is the song that doesn't end" _

"_Yes, it goes on and on, my friend" _

"_Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was" _

"_Now everybody's singing it forever just because" _

As soon as Bao entered, Mel finished giving Branky a beating. Looking in the direction of the newcomer, Mel smirked.

"Perfect. Branky, here's your easy elimination!"

Shoving Branky in Bao's general direction, any non-Suikoden fan started in shock as a continuous stream of fire spewed from the puppet's mouth, flying straight towards Bao.

As Bao started running around the arena to put out his hat fire, Mel took a much-deserved standing ovation from the crowd.

Lucky Glauber watched Bao running around and shook his head. "The kid had it coming, anyway."

Heavy D! nodded. "You said it."

"**SETSUNA!" (LB) **

The dark assassin came out from behind the curtain with an evil look on his face. Now that he had recovered from his humiliating defeat at the hands of Lucky Glauber, Setsuna could redeem himself by killing a few people in the ring. The dark-skinned man confidently strode down to the arena and jumped in.

As soon as Setsuna hit the canvas, his eyes snapped open at what he saw.

Lucky smirked and cracked his hands. "Well, well, well. Look who's here." He chuckled. "Back for round two?"

"You know this guys, Lucky?" D! asked his friend.

"He's more of an acquaintance, actually." Lucky replied. "He tried to kill me and I beat the snot out of him."

Seeing Lucky approaching him as he caught another basketball, Setsuna quickly turned tail and ran.

Meanwhile, King Lion had grabbed Peach and slammed her into the canvas. He was so wrapped up in his fight with her that he hadn't noticed the theme song change (any DDR fan would have recognized the song as 'Gyruss').

King Lion, pleased with this new wave of good luck, lifted the stunned princess off the ground and held her by the throat, starting to choke her. The techno theme song music suddenly started picking up.

Suddenly, the evil man felt something tap against his feet. Looking down, he saw a lit stick of dynamite.

*KA-BOOM!*

The techno music suddenly paused as King Lion was sent flying into the air, dropping Peach.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**EIGHT**!"

"AND the final fighter in this section…"

Peach looked at the ramp to see whom had taken King Lion out.

"**WILE E. COYOTE!" (Looney Tunes) **

As the techno theme song quickly resumed playing at faster speeds, Wile E. stood outside the curtain, still in his throwing position from when he had tossed the dynamite into the ring, almost oblivious to the loud cheer he was getting. Silently, the brown coyote stood up and ran down to the ring, leaping in just as King Lion hit the floor.

Peach stood up and brushed her dress off as Wile E. landed beside her. "Thanks for the help."

Wile E's response was to hold up a sign that read 'no problem'.

"Well, let's take this monster out!" Peach smirked and cracked her knuckles.

Wile E. pulled out a remote and flashed a sly smirk at King Lion.


	19. Section Eight Results

**(The Arena) **

It was almost like Samus Aran was back in the arena. The newest Mystery Fighter, Wile E. Coyote, had an arsenal almost as big as the futuristic bounty hunter herself. Judging by how much dynamite and other various projectiles the brown coyote was throwing at King Lion, no one dared to ask where Wile E. was pulling them from.

And Peach was adding to the villain's problems. King Lion was quickly discovering that the pink princess was incredibly lethal with a frying pan, as Peach's weapon of choice repeatedly slammed against his head. Not only that, but she was very agile, and gracefully avoided every punch he threw.

King Lion growled. "You can't keep doing this forever!" He shouted.

"**RAIN-BOW!" **

The villain turned and saw a familiar blue-clad female wrestler lunging at him, hip-first. King Lion toppled over and landed on his back, R. Mika once again standing over him.

"The only reason I haven't eliminated you yet is because I need some info from you!" Mika shouted, pointing down at the fallen boxer.

Peach and Wile E. looked at each other with confused expressions. Wile E even added to it by holding up a sign that read '?'.

King Lion's fellow villain Setsuna leaned to the side as a basketball soared past his head. However, the dark assassin seemed to forget that he was now fighting two people at once. Heavy D!'s fist slammed into the side of his head, sending the dark-skinned fighter flying forward and landing on Bao.

"You're going to tell us everything you know about this plot, pal!" Heavy D! shouted. "First you join this plot and then you almost kill one of my best friends! After you tell us, we're going to make sure that you get eliminated in a very painful way!"

Setsuna grunted. "You'll get nothing from me."

Lucky Glauber lifted his hand as a basketball fell into his hand. "Suit yourself, pal."

The orange ball slammed into Setsuna's face, stunning him. This made him an easy target for a Cyclone Break and R.S.D.

"_How is it that these two normal fighters are defeating me?"_ Setsuna thought. _"I never should have agreed to be a part of this." _

Meanwhile, Joker was in the middle of a duel with Link. Despite the fact that Link didn't have the Master Sword anymore (which, by the way, was still being wielded by Toppo), the Hylian Hero of Time was managing to use the other weapons in his arsenal against the purple-clad mercenary.

Joker smirked and ducked as Link's Biggoron Sword cut through the air above his head. As Link recovered from his own attack, Joker reached into his uniform and pulled out a flask of scotch.

The middle-aged man smirked. "Cheers." He said as he took a quick swig of the drink before putting the bottle back in his uniform. Joker quickly pulled out a match, lit it and blew on the flame.

Link's eyes snapped open when he saw a blast of fire shooting from the match. Link held up his shield, barely managing to block the attack.

Mel, Joker's nodal companion, stared in surprise before looking at her puppet, who shrugged. Mel returned the shrug and went back to attacking Guile.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Geddoe and Queen stared at Joker in shock. That last move had taken them completely by surprise.

Queen looked at her leader. "Why the heck didn't Joker use that move when we were fighting Yuber or Luc?"

Geddoe shook his head, not taking his eye off the arena. "Looks like his alcoholic tendencies actually came in handy."

Queen suddenly saw Gadget Z get up and start climbing up the ramp beside the stairs. She quickly knew that the small robot was going to leave the Eliminated Seating, but wasn't sure why.

"Gadget, why are you leaving?" Queen asked. "Don't you want to watch Belle fight when she enters?"

"I must confront Darth Vader because…He is my father." Gadget Z droned as he continued rolling away.

"Uh…Okay. Go on ahead."

Geddoe looked at Queen once Gadget Z left. "What did he say?"

"I don't know."

A little further back, Musafar also saw Gadget Z leaving. The larger robot stood up from his seat and went out of the Eliminated Seating as well.

Rouwe saw this and looked at Alvan. "Where do you suppose Musafar is going?" The old man asked.

Alvan shrugged. "Don't know. Don't care. Him not being here actually takes my mind off the fact that he did BETTER than I did in the arena."

**(Announcer's Booth) **

Unknown1 sighed as h hung up the phone. "That was the Medical Bay."

"And?" SSBFreak asked.

"Hanma doesn't want to fight anymore."

"What? Why?"

"He says that he's too busy helping fighters recover to think about actually entering the arena."

SSBFreak scratched his head. "But isn't one of the other doctors a Mystery Fighter?"

"Do you realize who you're talking about?" Unknown1 asked with an odd glare.

SSBFreak paused. "Okay. Okay. I withdraw my last question." He replied. "But now what do we do now that we've got an extra slot?"

"Easy." Unknown1 replied. "We comb the audience for another Mystery Fighter."

"Works for me."

**(The Arena) **

Bao rubbed his head, where a stray energy blast from Hanzo Hattori had struck him. The small boy regained his senses just in time to see one of Larcen's Sai coming at him. Bao threw himself to the floor, but wasn't quick enough as the bladed projectile became stuck in his oversized hat.

The young Psycho Soldier stood up, oblivious to the Sai in his hat. Looking around, Bao ran at the fight Heavy D! and Lucky Glauber were having with Setsuna with hopes of helping them out.

Meanwhile, Heavy D! lashed out his fist, slamming it into Setsuna's face. The dark assassin recoiled an staggered back, giving Lucky time to zoom behind him and spike him to the floor.

"This is starting to become annoying." Setsuna growled. "The only reason you two are still alive is because I'm not familiar with you."

Lucky smirked and drove his fist into Setsuna's stomach. "But you've already fought me outside of the arena. You should know my attacks by now if you're telling the truth."

Setsuna merely growled again, as he couldn't for the life of him come up with a reply to Lucky's crack. He quickly held up his sword and parried a blow from Heavy D!. The dark-skinned assassin looked at Lucky and saw him smirking slyly.

The giant basketball player towered over Setsuna as he dribbled another basketball. "You ready to talk yet, pal?" He asked.

Setsuna's reply was to spit in Lucky's face. However, he didn't exactly have good aim, and his spitball splattered against Lucky's jacket instead of his face.

Lucky's eyes sprang open. "My jacket! Do you realize how much it costs to dry-clean this thing?" He demanded.

Heavy D! looked down at Setsuna, whom was quickly realizing that he did something very stupid. "You're in for it now, man."

In a strange showing of rage, Lucky grabbed his basketball and threw it into Setsuna's face with all his might. The ball bounced off Setsuna's head and landed back into Lucky's open hands.

Lucky raised the orange ball into the air. "HELLBOUND!" He screamed.

However, Setsuna knew how this move went. Lashing out his sword, Setsuna sent a gust of wind at Lucky. As soon as the air struck him, Lucky found himself doing an instant 180 in place, although nothing could stop him from continuing the attack. Lucky slammed the ball into the ground, causing a pillar of light to shoot from the ground.

The attack quickly stopped, but Lucky didn't think he had struck anyone. Imagine his surprise when the first thing he saw was Bao flying headfirst out of the arena.

Setsuna chuckled. "See? I made you eliminate your own nodal companion. Aren't you upset now?"

Lucky shrugged. "On the contrary. Half the people from my node have been wanting to do that for years."

Bao landed in the node of Barney. He fit right in.

On the other side of the arena, Guile was busy fighting Franco Bash, and looked like he was winning.

Franco lashed out his foot, which Guile easily caught. "You're pretty good." The kickboxer commented. "You certainly live up to the reputation I hear you have."

Guile cocked an eyebrow and lashed out a Sonic Boom. "People know about me in Southtown?"

Franco nodded and landed a couple of kicks to Guile's stomach. "Oh, yes. Terry, Joe and Mai told the rest of us about you after that tournament a while back."

"I remember that." Guile replied and lashed out his fist, nailing Franco in the chest. "The Joe fellow is a good kickboxer, but that taunt is simply far too ignorant to be shown in public."

The larger man let out a couple of quick jabs, striking Guile in the face. "Forgive me for changing the subject, but I hear that you have a daughter." Franco said. Guile nodded. "You care for her?"

"She and my wife are all I ever think about outside of my goal of avenging my friend." Guile replied. "Why?"

"I have a son, and he means the world to me." Franco explained. "Once he gets old enough, I want to train him to fight like I do and follow in my footsteps. You planning on doing that with your daughter?"

Guile chuckled. "Amy seems all too eager to start training." He replied. "She wants to become a fighter like me when she gets older, and she's as excited about training as I was at her age."

"Once our children become fighters, we should have a rematch for old time's sake and show them how it was done in our day."

Guile smirked. "Name the time and place in about ten years and you've got a deal."

"Well, let's finish this fight." Franco said. "I'll talk to you again after the tournament finishes."

"Sounds like a plan."

Franco rushed at Guile and lashed out his foot. Guile quickly swerved to the side and allowed the giant man's foot to pass by. Guile quickly lashed out with a strong kick on his own, sending his foot into Franco's stomach.

As Franco recoiled back, Guile pulled his foot back and performed his trademark somersault super move. The two small somersaults sent Franco into the air, but it was the third one that finished the job, sending the giant kickboxer out of the ring.

The two ninjas Hanzo Hattori and Kagemaru were dueling to see which was better. Hanzo definitely had the advantage with his sword and the fact that he didn't have any fatigue weighing him down, but Kage was proving to be no pushover.

Hanzo lashed out with his katana, but Kage swerved to the side, avoiding the blow. As quickly as he could, Kage thrust out his fist, catching Hanzo in the stomach. The black-clad ninja recoiled back, giving Kage enough time to shove his foot into his chest.

Hanzo shook off the effects of Kage's kick and stared at the blue-clad ninja. "You're a lot better since the last time we fought." He complimented.

Kage placed his fist into his palm and politely bowed. "Thank you, Hanzo. I have been training in hand-to-hand combat since the last time we met. I can now perform stealthy attacks like a normal ninja can."

The black-clad man smirked behind his mask. "Really? Can you do this?" Hanzo vanished into thin air, leaving nothing but a log.

Kage quickly spun in place and shot his foot forward, striking Hanzo in the stomach as he appeared. "Yes. And I also know where that trick takes ninjas."

As the audience watched in amazement, Kage leapt into the air and flipped overtop of Hanzo as the black-garbed ninja lashed at him with his katana. While in midair, Kage slammed both feet into Hanzo's back, making him stagger forward.

Hanzo turned and gripped his sword with both hands. "It's time I finished this, Kage. No offense." He said calmly.

"On the contrary." Kage replied with a smirk. "I should be the one saying that."

The reply Kage got was Hanzo rushing at him at lightning speeds, getting ready to attack with his sword. Kage was prepared, however, and quickly jumped to the side, driving his fist into the back of Hanzo's head as he passed by.

After recovering from the blow, Hanzo turned in place and stared at Kage.

Kage wasn't stupid, and knew what Hanzo was going to do next. As quickly as he could, Kage grabbed Hanzo's teleportation log and dropped it down one of the gaps creating the star-shaped arena. As soon as Kage released the log, Hanzo vanished.

Naturally, when Hanzo appeared again, he traded places with the log, but the log was falling towards the elimination vortex at the time. As the log appeared back on the arena canvas, Hanzo fell through the portal.

Hanzo landed in Sonic CD. He looked around and sighed. "Well, I guess it wasn't meant to be." He said. "I guess I should try and find a way out of here."

With that, Hanzo stood up and ran off. Unfortunately, he was travelling at 'stealthy-ninja' speeds, and the instant he hit the checkpoint, he vanished.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Sonic, sitting in his seat, suddenly sneezed. Everyone looked at him strangely for a few seconds before returning to watching the arena.

**(Mushroom Kingdom) **

Koopas were running around and screaming, yelling at the top of their lungs that 'the plumber' was back in fear. The Koopa leader, a young-looking Koopling with rainbow hair, looking around in anger at his troops.

"What's the problem with you morons?" Lemmy Koopa shouted.

A Parakoopa flew past him. "It's Mario! He's back and he's going to kill us all!"

Lemmy looked through the crowd of terrified Koopas and saw a confused Franco Bash looking around.

The young Koopa rolled up imaginary sleeves and walked forward. "So, you beefed up a little, eh Mario?" Lemmy asked. "Well, let's see how good you feel in thirty seconds."

A minute later and Lemmy was being carted away by his own troops. Franco scratched his head and walked away to find some pasta.

**(The Arena) **

Another white vegetable bounced off of King Lion's head as he found himself being lifted off the ground again, R. Mika preparing to slam him into the canvas. Peach, the one that had thrown the vegetable, reached to the ground and magically pulled another one from the canvas. King Lion didn't have time to wonder how Peach was able to do that, because as soon as Mika slammed him into the ground, he noticed another of Wile E's explosives sitting next to him. The resulting explosion sent King Lion rolling aside as the brown coyote lit another stick of dynamite.

"I'm REALLY starting to hate being a bad guy." King Lion muttered. He then looked around at his three attackers. "Look! Why are you doing this to me?"

"You know why, you jerk!" Mika shouted. "I want info, and I want it now!"

"Info?" Peach asked. "For what?"

Mika looked at Peach and Wile E. and pointed down at King Lion. "This bozo is in on a plot being brewed!" She accused. "Dan and I know that it's got several of the villains in on the plot, and it involves kidnapping several targets, but that's all we know."

Peach gasped as Wile E. narrowed his eyes at King Lion. "A kidnapping plot?" Peach asked. "How horrid!"

Wile E. quickly held up a sign that read 'You're goin' down, buddy!'. Once Peach overcame her shock she also narrowed her eyes and pulled out her frying pan.

Mika cracked her knuckles. "Okay, pal! What do you know?" She demanded. "Now that these two know, you're severely outnumbered!"

King Lion snarled. "You won't get anything out of me!"

The female wrestler narrowed her eyes. "So be it." She looked over at Peach and Wile E, both of whom nodded slowly.

Mika grabbed King Lion and wrapped her arms around his waist. The blue-clad girl then started flipping herself end-over-end, repeatedly suplexing King Lion into the canvas. Quickly letting go, Mika ran off towards the nearest turnbuckle, allowing Wile E. to start attacking.

Wile E. hauled King Lion to his feet and drove a furry knee into his face. Pulling out a small box, Wile E. held it up to King Lion's face. The instant King Lion looked at the box, a huge glove shot from it and socked him in the cheek, knocking him over to Peach, who slammed her frying pan into the side of his head.

"RAIN-BOW!"

Peach looked up and stepped aside. Almost right after the pink princess stepped out of the way, R. Mika landed directly on top of King Lion, having leapt from one of the turnbuckles.

Standing aside and watching as Mika started punching King Lion in the face, Peach decided to pluck another vegetable from the ground. Grasping a handful on the tarp, Peach pulled, yanking the vegetable from the ground.

Except that, this time, it wasn't a vegetable. In her hands was a ticking bomb with eyes and feet.

Peach shrieked and looked at her newfound friends. "Look out!" She screamed just before throwing the Bomb-Omb.

Mika and Wile E. looked in time to see the bright-eyed explosive flying at them. Scrambling away, the two left King Lion on the mat, dazed.

***KA-BOOM!* **

King Lion flew so far out of the arena that he went headfirst into the forcefield protecting the stands. King Lion fell straight down, into the elimination vortex.

If King Lion had been awake, he would he found himself in Tekken 2. Unfortunately, he had landed beside the motionless, young body of Kazuya Mishima just as a certain volcano was about to blow.

**(Diamond City; Streets) **

"HEINZAN!" Chang Koehan roared, kicking Lee Chaolan in the chest with all his might. The silver-haired man was sent flying high into the air before landing on his back.

Lee slowly got to his feet and looked at Chang, deciding to try and use Chang's supposed stupidity against him. "Look. I don't know why you're attacking me, but I'm not really in the mood. First, I get chased into the arena by a female wrestler. Then, the same wrestler pounds the tar out of me and throws me from the arena. Now, I'm driving along here, waiting to appear back at the dome, when you come in and start beating me up."

Chang furiously pointed at Mona, whom was still sitting on her own scooter. "You don't know why 'The Koehan' is fighting you, scum? You were carting this poor woman off to get ransom money! That is enough for someone like 'The Koehan' to get furious at!"

Lee sighed. It seemed that whatever happened to Chang, it had increased his intelligence to normal level as well as turn him into a deranged superhero.

"Look, can't we discuss this like gentlemen?" Lee asked, slowly backing away from the giant mountain of man.

"'The Koehan' never reasons with criminals as bad as you!" Chang bellowed. "Prepare for a massive beating!"

"Give him an extra one for me, mister!" Mona shouted. She had worked the cloth off her mouth shortly after the two men had started fighting and was now cheering Chang on.

Chang looked back and flashed a grin. "Of course, citizen."

Lee quickly took advantage of Chang's distraction by lunging ahead and snapping his foot like a whip. However, Chang saw this coming and raised his wrecking ball. Lee's foot struck the ball of iron, causing all of his toes to erupt in pain. Lee hopped around on his uninjured foot, grasping his other foot in pain.

It was now Chang's turn to take advantage of the situation. Lashing out his wrecking ball, Chang struck Lee's free leg, knocking the prettyboy to the ground. As soon as Lee hit the ground, Chang kicked him in the side, sending him rolling along the ground.

Lee jumped to his feet and narrowed his eyes. "I've experienced enough humiliations today already!" He shouted in anger. "I'm not going to lose to a fat oaf like you!"

Chang said nothing. He simply got into a Tae Kwon Do stance and motioned for Lee to come forward. Lee took this as a challenge and ran at the giant superhero. However, before Lee even got close, Chang thrust his foot out and slammed it into the silver-haired man's face three insanely quick times.

As Chang grabbed hold of his shirt and tossed him into the air, Lee wondered how he could lose so many consecutive battles so easily.

Chang pulled his wrecking ball back and waited until Lee had gotten into his line of sight. As soon as Lee was, Chang swung his weapon like a baseball bat, striking Lee with an amazingly-painful strike. Lee was sent flying back until his shoulders collided with the scooter he had hijacked.

Mona quickly slammed her bound feet into the back of Lee's head, knocking him out and putting him out of his misery.

Chang grinned victoriously as he walked over to Mona and started untying her. "That scum didn't hurt you, did he, ma'am?" He asked politely.

Mona shook her head. "No. I was just scared that Wario would actually have to pay him to let me go. I just can't believe that this tournament actually invites jerks like him to participate."

Chang sighed as he freed Mona's arms and started working on her legs. "It was necessary for the villains to be invited with the heroes." He replied.

Just as Chang freed Mona completely and helped her off the scooter, Lee's motionless body suddenly vanished from sight.

Mona's eyes went wide. "What the heck happened?" She asked. "He was there a second ago!"

"Rules of the tournament say that no fighter can stay in their elimination node for more than ten minutes." Chang explained. "Now that he has vanished, it will only be a mater of time before 'The Koehan' returns to the dome as well."

"Wait!" Mona said. "Just to let you know, I wanted to say thanks for rescuing me. You're welcome in my diner anytime."

Chang grinned. "I appreciate the gesture, ma'am."

"You needn't cal me that, mister." Mona said. "My name's Mona. What's yours?"

Chang pondered this for a second and couldn't really see any harm in telling one person. "Chang Koehan." He said just before he vanished into thin air, leaving Mona alone.

Mona pondered for a couple seconds. "Chang Koehan." She repeated as a smile appeared on her face. "I'll have to watch the tournament next year and see how he does."

**(The Arena) **

Dribbling his basketball, Lucky Glauber ran at Setsuna and leapt into the air, firing the orange projectile into the assassin's face with full force. Setsuna grabbed his face and staggered back, looking at his two opponents.

While Lucky looked almost untouched save a few cuts in his outfit, the fatigue was really starting to show for Heavy D!. Bruises on his face, broken shades and tears all over his outfit, D! was looking like he could be eliminated with only a few more attacks.

Deciding to go for the weaker one first, Setsuna readied his sword and charged at Heavy D!.

D! smirked. "I think not." He said as he slammed his palm into the ground, performing a Soul Flower. The quick and small pillar of energy surrounded the black boxer, protecting him from harm. Setsuna ran straight into the pillar, making him fly several feet in the air before landing on his back.

Lucky quickly took advantage of the effect of his friend's attack and hurled his basketball at the assassin, aiming once again for his head.

Unfortunately, Setsuna saw the ball coming at him. Leaping to his feet, Setsuna lashed out his sword and sliced the orange ball perfectly in half.

Smiling in satisfaction, Setsuna looked at Lucky. "HA!"

Lucky smirked as he raised his arm. Another basketball fell from the sky and into his palm. "Ha, yourself."

*SMACK!*

Rubbing his face, Setsuna looked at Lucky in anger. **"WHERE THE FREAKING HECK DO THOSE CURSED THINGS COME FROM?"** He screamed.

Lucky's smirk got a little bit bigger. "That's my little secret."

"Yeah, man." D! shrugged. "I'm his best friend and even I don't know where he gets them from."

Setsuna roared and charged again, this time aiming for Lucky. The tall basketball player quickly threw his basketball, taking out Setsuna's legs from under him. However, before Setsuna could hit the ground, Lucky threw himself forward.

"LUCKY DRIVER!" Lucky screamed as he leapt onto his hands and propelled himself into the air, spinning and kicking wildly. Setsuna got struck with Lucky's first kick and was lifted off the ground as well.

As soon as Lucky finished attacking, Setsuna dropped from the sky. Now, if the arena would have still been a square, it wouldn't have mattered, but because the arena was in the shape on a star, Setsuna fell through one of the gaps and into the elimination portal.

Setsuna was one of the more fortunate villains. He landed in a dojo in Ninja Gaiden. Seeing that the dojo was empty, Setsuna sighed and sat down.

Back in the arena, the two giant members of the USA Sports Team high-fived. "That was an awesome elimination, Lucky!" D! laughed. "Did you see the look on that guy's face?"

"Yeah! I'm betting that he'll think twice before messing with us again!" Lucky added.

D! sighed as he turned serious. "But that doesn't help us with this plot we're up against."

"Excuse me?"

The two friends turned around and saw Rainbow Mika running over, a look of surprise on her face.

"Did I just hear that right?" Mika asked. "You two have heard about this plot as well?"

"You too?" Lucky asked.

Mika nodded. "Yeah, Dan Hibiki found out about this plot back in section one! In fact, one of our allies, Reed, has already entered the arena."

D! lifted his eyebrows. "Reed? That blonde soldier with the anime haircut from the Suikoden node? I entered the same section as he did and he didn't tell me about this?"

Mika shrugged. "He managed to get us a few more allies before getting eliminated. I guess he just didn't think you were trying to stop the plot as well."

"Well, it's great to know that we're not alone in this." D! said. "I guess this means that we have more allies than we thought."

Mika nodded. "Yes. It's a little more reassuring now that I know our numbers have grown." She paused. "Someone needs to get out there and find Dan to tell him about this."

D! looked at Lucky. "What about Ryoko and Bridget?"

"Ryoko enters the arena in a couple of sections." Lucky replied. "If I'm still in the arena, maybe I can tell her then. Bridget I'm not worried about. He'll come searching for someone."

D! nodded. "Okay. I'll go out, then."

"Why you?" Mika asked.

"I've been in the arena longest." Heavy D! replied. "I don't think I'll be of much help for when Bison enters in the next section."

"Hey, you're right!" Lucky replied. "I bet Bison's in on the plot as well!"

"Okay." D! looked at Mika. "You send me out, Mika. People might get suspicious if Lucky eliminates me."

"Okay. Hold still." Mika directed as she backed up.

"RAIN-BOW!" Mika screamed as she flew forward, hip first. She slammed into D!'s chest, knocking him over the edge of the arena, making him fall down one of the gaps.

D! landed in a dojo. Suddenly, he saw Setsuna sitting down a little bit away from him. The boxer smirked. "Well, look who it is."

Setsuna's eyes snapped open as he looked over his shoulder, at Heavy D!.

"I guess I can continue the interrogation considering the fact there's no one else here." D! said.

For the first time in his miserable life, Setsuna was terrified.

In the arena, G. Done and Toppo were double-teaming Larcen Tyler in hopes of eliminating the slightly-fatigued Mystery Fighter. Although he looked like he was losing the battle, Larcen was definitely showing that he wasn't going down without a fight.

Toppo swung his newfound weapon (the Master Sword, obviously) at the cat burglar, who quickly parried the blow with his grappling hook. Sparks shot from the two metal objects when they collided, but Larcen was he only one prepared. Toppo, taken back from the sparks, closed his eyes from the brightness. He was easy pickings for Larcen to Knee Drive, sending the silent juggler across the arena. This left G. Done to fight Larcen alone.

Larcen smirked as he lifted the brim of his hat above his eyes, granting everyone the privilege of seeing his eyes. "You Galaxy Fighters seem to be the dark horses here." He chuckled. "After that big robot go an elimination, your popularity grew a little."

"Yeah, but that still didn't help us get any more eliminations." G. Done muttered.

Larcen shrugged. "Let's see what you've got. Maybe you can get an elimination off of me."

"Ah, even if I didn't it's still alright. Even with one elimination, we're still ahead of the Last Blade and Kizuna Encounter gangs." G. Done replied.

The two neglected fighters charged. Larcen swung with his grappling hook, which G. Done skillfully dodged and landed a hard punch to the gangster's stomach. As Larcen recoiled, G. Done continued with a pair of high kicks. However, Larcen quickly spotted an opening and thrust his fist out, catching G. Done in the face.

It was G. Done's turn to stagger back, but he quickly snapped out of his daze. Looking at Larcen, G. Done charged again, shoulder first. Larcen ran forward as well, sticking his knee out.

The two fighters collided, but their attacks cancelled each other out. This earned a cheer from the crowd.

Breathing heavily, G. Done backed up, unsure of which direction he was going. Suddenly, after walking for a few feet, he felt himself back into something solid. Quietly feeling behind him, G. Done felt some sort of cloth. He smirked. {Perfect. I've backed into one of the turnbuckles.} He thought as he looked at Larcen, whom was bent over, breathing heavily.

G. Done leapt into the air and kicked what he thought was the turnbuckle with all his might. G. Done pushed himself into the air, sending himself at Larcen.

The announcement caught completely off guard. Rather than attack Larcen, he collided with him, sending them both to the ground. G. Done looked around, wondering why he was just credited for an elimination.

Kagemaru landed on the roof of a car in Ridge Racer. He sat up and wondered how G. Done possibly could have known he was sneaking up behind him.

**(Hotel; Sagat's Room) **

Bruce Irvin leapt into the air and arched over M. Bison as the dictator flew past in a Psycho Crusher. The black Thai fighter landed gracefully on his feet as Bison flew into the wall.

After striking the wall, Bison spun around in midair and snarled at Bruce. "You're beginning to become an annoyance, my friend." He growled. "You shouldn't have interfered in the first place."

"And watch as you brainwash Sagat?" Bruce asked as he ran at Bison and landed three hard kicks to the madman's chest. "No way in heck!"

"Fool!" Bison shouted as he held his arms up, blocking Bruce's fourth kick. "Do you really think you can defeat me when not even Geese Howard could?"

"That I don't know." Bruce muttered as he took Bison's legs out from under him. "But I intend to stall long enough for Sagat to get help!"

Bison growled as he jumped to his feet. Doing his trademark forward flip, Bison slammed both of his heels into Bruce's forehead. The Thai fighter staggered back, holding his injured forehead. Taking a couple of steps, Bruce shook his head several times to clear his head, then narrowed his eyes at Bison. "You're really asking for it!" He shouted.

Bruce charged forward at Bison. Leaping onto an end-table, Bruce threw himself into the air and stuck his foot out. Bison was unable to block the attack in time and received a flying kick to the nose.

Unfortunately, this attack didn't faze Bison very much. As soon as Bruce landed the kick, Bison flew forward in another Psycho Crusher. Bruce was completely unprepared and was thrown into a wall.

Bruce slowly got to his feet, ignoring the numbing pain coming from his back. He was determined to give Sagat time, even if he almost died doing it. And judging by the way Bison was fighting it looked like that option was definitely possible.

Sweat rolled down Bruce's face as he held up his knee, blocking a punch from Bison. _"This guy is tougher than anyone I've seen in the ring."_ The Thai fighter thought. _"If I wanna survive I need to make sure I'm on the top of my game here."_

Bison grunted as Bruce slammed his knee into his face. "If you were on the right side, you wold be a valuable ally to my organization."

"Not interested." Bruce replied, unknowingly using Sagat's earlier words exactly. "I was on the wrong side once before. I don't intend to make it twice."

"A stubborn little gnat, I see." Bison said. "It looks like I'll have to finish this my way."

Breaking away from Bruce, Bison hovered mere inches off the floor and floated backwards several feet. As soon as he was back far enough, Bison lunged forward.

"ULTIMATE PSYCHO CRUSHER!"

Bruce's eyes snapped open. "CRAP!" He shouted as he raised his knee and held his arms in front of himself.

Flying through the air, Bison smirked evilly. The Ultimate Psycho Crusher was impossible to jump over, a real pain to block, and could only be parried with another super move, which Bruce was lacking in that category.

Bison slammed his fists into Bruce's stomach with a sickening crunch, sending the Thai fighter flying headfirst into the wall, finally knocking him out.

It was over. Bruce had lost.

Bison walked over to Bruce's motionless body and smirked. "I could use him on my side here." He thought aloud. "I'll just influence him a little, just like I did with Howard."

Bison placed his hand on Bruce's forehead, warping his mind almost instantly. Sagat had gotten away, but Bison realized that this Thai fighter would do perfectly.

**(The Arena) **

Toppo slowly got to his feet and shook his head. Looking ahead, he saw G. Done still fighting Larcen. Gripping the Master Sword with both hands, Toppo was about to rush back to help the Galaxy Fighter again.

Meanwhile, Link was still fighting Joker, and was surprised at how an unarmed fighter was so able to keep up with him. Mind you, Link would have made the battle go in his favour if he still had the Master Sword.

Suddenly, Link spotted something out of the corner of his eye as Joker slammed his fists into his shield. He noticed Toppo slowly getting to his feet, then look off in the direction of G. Done and Larcen. But what caught Link's attention the most is what Toppo was holding: The Master Sword.

Link's eyes snapped open. _"The Master Sword!"_ The Hylian hero thought. _"He's got the Master Sword!" _

Pushing the Hylian Shield ahead, knocking Joker away. Once the mercenary was away from him, Link turned around and ran at Toppo.

"Hey, you!" Link shouted. "The one with the long nose!"

Toppo narrowed his eyes at the mention of his nose and spun around, swinging the sword at the same time. Link barely had enough time to duck before his own weapon sailed over his head.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Link shouted. "I'm not here to fight!"

"_Yeah, right!"_ Toppo thought. _"This guy's from the same node as that Falco creep that eliminated Nei. Elf-boy here's probably just out for revenge."_

Toppo silently swung the Master Sword again as Link jumped back to avoid being slashed.

"This guy doesn't seem to want to listen." Link muttered. "Looks like I'll have to fight to get the Master Sword back."

Link pulled out the Biggoron Sword and swung it at Toppo. The silent juggler quickly held up the Master Sword, blocking the blow. Link had the advantage here. Not only was he more experienced in swordfighting, but the Hylian was wielding the larger, more-powerful sword. Link pushed forward, breaking Toppo away from him.

Toppo staggered back, but didn't release his grip on the Master Sword. The juggler glared daggers at the Hero of Time, reached for his belt and ripped a juggling ball from it. Toppo hurled the rubber ball at Link with all his might, then ran after it himself, readying the Master Sword for attack.

Not expecting Toppo to throw the ball, Link was taken completely off guard. The rubber projectile bounced off Link's forehead, stunning him for a couple of seconds. Toppo ran at him and swung the Master Sword, but Link snapped out of his daze in time to see it coming. Link leapt over the blade of steel and swung the Biggoron Sword with all his might.

Unfortunately for him, Toppo saw the attack coming. Leaning to the side, Toppo allowed Link's attack to miss him completely, leaving the Hylian completely open for attack. Pulling his fist back, Toppo thrust it into the side of Link's head, knocking him back. Another couple of punches and Link fell through one of the gaps in the star-shaped arena.

Link landed in Mace: The Dark Ages. He sighed and sat down.

"Man. I don't believe this!" Link said to himself. "The Master Sword was RIGHT THERE! Zelda's going to KILL me when I get back to the dome!"

Suddenly, Link heard a growl coming from behind. Turning around, Link saw Grendal approaching. Lnk sighed as smashed the giant beast over the head with the Megaton Hammer.

**(SSB Locker Room) **

Everyone instantly looked at Zelda, whom had calmed down once she saw that Link had spotted Toppo with the Master Sword.

The Hylian princess screamed psychotically. "That idiot!"

The rest of the gang felt extremely lucky that Zelda hadn't killed anyone yet, as they had never seen her this mad. Even Bowser was a little scared.

Zelda continued with her rant. "He's lost the Master Sword AGAIN!" She screamed. "Once I get my fingers wrapped around that scrawny neck of his, I'll-"

Mewtwo quietly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sleep." He said.

"Right." Zelda said as her head slumped forward. Everyone quickly heard snoring coming from the princess, then they all looked at Mewtwo.

"You mean to say that you could do that all along?" Roy shouted. "How come you didn't do that the FIRST time she flipped?"

Mewtwo shrugged. "No one asked."

Everyone else quickly fell over, anime-style.

**(The Arena) **

Joker stood up and looked around the arena. He didn't know why the heck Link would suddenly send him flying away, but from the looks of things, the Hylian wasn't in the arena anymore. Joker was about to wander off to find another fight when he suddenly felt something tap against his foot. Looking down, the purple-clad mercenary saw a lit stick of dynamite.

Unlike King Lion before him, Joker dove to the side just as the dynamite exploded. Looking in the direction the explosive came from and saw Wile E. Coyote coming over.

"So, you're looking for a fight, huh?" Joker asked.

Wile E. nodded as he held up a sign that read 'I haven't really had anything to do since we tossed King Lion from the arena'.

Joker smirked and raised his palms, getting into his stance. "Okay, you lump of fuzz. Bring it on!" He challenged.

The cartoon character accepted the challenge and ran at Joker, preparing to attack. Just as Wile E. got close enough, Joker pushed forward with his hands, sending them into the coyote's stomach. Wile E. clutched his stomach and backed off a couple of steps, but easily shook the effects of Joker's attack off.

Joker continued, thrusting his fist out. Wile E. easily avoided this blow and retaliated with a punch of his own, slamming his fist into Joker's face. Joker gripped his cheek in pain, but was otherwise unharmed.

The mercenary was thinking that he would be able to overpower Wile E. easily due to the coyote being so lanky and thin, but Joker had forgotten one thing: Wile E. was an avid customer of ACME, and somehow had a huge supply of gadgets on his person. Joker was quickly reminded of this when the brown coyote pulled out a remote from behind his back and pressed the button on it.

Joker suddenly found himself in the middle of a shadow. Looking up, Joker saw a huge safe falling from the sky, coming right towards him. Joker quickly ran to the side as the safe crashed through the canvas, falling through the elimination vortex (where it brought a game of NBA Street to an abrupt end).

Joker glared daggers at Wile E. and secretly charged his Fire Rune. "You're in for it now, pal!"

The response Joker got was Wile E. holding up a sign that read 'How?'.

The mercenary smirked. "Like THIS!"

Everyone watched as Joker pulled his hand into the air and slammed it into the canvas. A wave of fire lifted up from the canvas and flew at Wile E.

Joker stood straight and prepared to throw Wile E. from the arena once the fire wave stopped. Once it did, however, he saw that the coyote was no longer standing there. Looking around, Joker wondered if he had actually eliminated the cartoon character.

Suddenly, a loud whistle was heard from above. Looking up, Joker saw Wile E hovering over the arena with a jetpack, waving down at him.

Joker could do nothing but watch as Wile E. pulled another remote from behind his back and pressed the lone button on it. Then, the brown coyote pointed in the direction behind Joker.

The middle-aged man turned around just in time to see a huge, red rocket shooting at him. Where it had come from, he would never know, but he didn't get the chance to think about it any longer. The tip of the rocket slammed into Joker's stomach and still kept going. The rocket carried Joker straight out of the arena and pushed him into the elimination vortex. Wile E. hovered close to the canvas and shut off his jetpack, landing on the ground.

Joker and the rocket both landed in Sonic Adventure 2. Unfortunately for Joker, the rocket chose that time to explode, turning Green Forest into a flaming inferno.

G. Done slammed his fist into Larcen's stomach, knocking the burglar back a few feet. Larcen quickly recovered and quickly tossed two Sai at the streetfighter. Unfortunately for him, G. Done had amazing agility. Leaping into the air, G. Done arced over the Sai, but the second one found a home in his pant leg, missing his skin by mere inches (the first one slammed into Bryan Fury's back, so no innocents were harmed).

As G. Done landed on the ground, Larcen took the time he had to wipe a drop of blood from his mouth. He wasn't going to let someone from the Galaxy Fight node get the best of him, although he definitely had to admit that he node had brought forth a couple of surprises from getting eliminations.

Larcen looked ahead in time to see G. Done leap into the air and flip around, bringing his foot up to bring it down on the burglar's forehead. Larcen quickly pulled out his grappling hook and spun it in a circle once, slamming it into G. Done just as the amnesic fighter's heel came into contact with his head. Both fighters collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily, as the audience went nuts. Although most of the audience was cheering for Larcen, G. Done's popularity had increased since he unknowingly eliminated Kage.

"Sorry, man." G. Done said. "But my node needs the elimination."

Larcen slowly stood up and narrowed his eyes. "I think not."

G. Done advanced on Larcen, preparing to grab him and throw him from the arena. However, the cat burglar was prepared, and whipped his grappling hook at the oncoming fighter. The hook tore across G. Done's chest, ripping a gash in his shirt and drawing a bit of blood.

Larcen suddenly noticed the hole in the canvas that had appeared after Wile E. had dropped the safe towards Joker earlier. Thinking quickly, Larcen stuck his knee out and slid forward, striking G. Done in the face. The streetfighter staggered back, but was far too close to the hole. G. Done toppled over and fell through the hole in the canvas, into elimination.

G. Done landed in Uniracers, just as a race was about to begin. The streetfighter landed directly into the seat of Anti-Uni, the bright white unicycle, just as the race started. The two unicycles took off, unaware of G. Done sitting on top of Anti-Uni, arms flailing.

Larcen stood at the edge of the hole and looked around the audience. He was receiving a loud cheer, but no one cheered as loud as Jetta and RAX. Larcen now had four eliminations, and the Eternal Champions had gained a good amount of popularity. Maybe now they'd all be invited to next year's tournament…

Larcen didn't have any more time to reflect on his victory. Princess Peach (whom Guile had just thrown) suddenly slammed into his back, knocking Larcen down the hole as well.

Peach looked up. "What?" She asked. Looking over her shoulder, Peach looked down the hole and saw Larcen vanishing into the vortex. "Oh. Oops." She said before getting up and running at Guile again.

Larcen also landed in Uniracers, but unfortunately for him, the first lap was just finishing. The blue unicycle barreled him over and continued racing. Larcen was about to stand up when Anti-Uni, G. Done still perched on top, ran him over as well.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Jin Chonrei hit the wall, a stinging sensation around his cheek, where his opponent had punched him. Turning around, Chonrei saw Anna Williams swinging her foot at Vivian, whom lowered herself closer to the ground. Anna's foot soared over the Shadow Siren's head, and Vivian quickly grabbed Anna's other leg and pulled it towards her, making Anna lose her balance and land on her back.

Anna quickly jumped to her feet. "You little brat!" The brunette assassin seethed. "You really think you can defeat me? I'm one of the most skilled assassin's in the world!"

Vivian smirked and snapped her fingers, making a small area of the floor just in front of Anna's feet explode. "Then I take it you're slipping, lady." She said with a smirk. "This isn't very difficult."

Anna's eyes flared. "Why you little-"

"I'm coming, Vivian!" Chonrei shouted as he ran at Anna and landed a flying kick to her back. Anna staggered forward and reached for her back in pain, but she walked right into a punch from Vivian, whom had extended the spout connecting her torso to the ground to become eye-level with Anna's face.

Chonrei's eyes narrowed as he ignited his fist with blue flames and lashed out at Anna, slamming his flaming fist into her stomach, but at the price of Anna delivering a powerful and painful karate chop to his neck.

Watching Chonrei collapse to the ground fueled Vivian's anger further. "No one hurts my friends and gets away with it!" She shouted as she lashed her hand out, shooting a ball of fire at the ground.

Anna, seeing the size of the fireball, smirked. "Is that all you got, kid? I say try working on your aim." She asked. "Honesty, I think Dan Hibiki can produce bigger fireballs."

As soon as the fireball touched the ground, Anna's song changed. A stream of fire shot from where the fireball had hit and went straight at Anna. The tall woman didn't have time to dodge and the fire stream slammed into her, knocking her to the ground.

Chonrei jumped to his feet and looked down at Anna. "Okay, lady. You're going to tell us what you know!"

Anna smirked. "What makes you think I would do that?" She taunted. "There's just two of you. Do you really think you can stop this plot by yourselves?"

Vivian sighed. "She's right, Chonrei." The Shadow Siren said. "We're going to need some help."

"Which I'm sure we can find easily." Chonrei replied. "I mean, with everything that's been going on outside of the arena so far, I wouldn't be surprised if there are others trying to stop this plot as well. We just need to find them."

The purple girl pointed down at Anna. "Well, what do we do with her?"

Chonrei slammed his hand down on Anna's forehead, knocking her out. "We'll take her with us while we look for some help. If we manage to find someone, we'll interrogate Miss Williams there."

Vivian nodded. Suddenly, she looking down the hall, alarmed. She grabbed Chonrei and sunk into the ground again, taking him with her.

As soon as the two young-looking fighters had gone into the floor, a screaming Electro ran past, running around the corner. The five security leaders followed, chasing after him. On his way, Knuckles tripped over Anna's unconscious body, but paid no attention as he got to his feet and continued the chase.

**(Dome; Recovery Room) **

The first thing Lee Chaolan saw when he woke up was Dr. Tuta standing over him, smirking.

"Well, look who finally decided to wake up." Tuta joked.

Lee suddenly remembered his earlier fight and shot up, looking around fearfully. "H-He's not here, is he?" He whimpered.

"Who, Chang?" Hanma asked. "No. As soon as he appeared, he left, mumbling something about defeating evil villains."

Lee sighed in relief as he got out of the bed he was laying in. "Well, I have things to attend to, so if you'll excuse me."

Lee left the medical staff and went out the door. The silver-haired man shut the door behind him and started walking off down the hallway.

About three steps later and Lee received a sharp and painful blow to the neck, knocking him out instantly. Lee collapsed to the ground as his attacker stepped out of the shadows.

"It's time I got some more answers." Andy Bogard muttered. "I'd better take this guy and find Heavy D!…"

**(The Arena) **

*WHAM!* *WHAM!* *WHAM!* *WHAM!* *WHAM!*

Needless to say, Bryan Fury wasn't feeling so hot anymore. King was still feeling angry about the cyber-zombie trying to win her over when he entered the arena, and she was currently giving Bryan the biggest beating of his undead life. King knew that Ryo would be ten times as angry as well, and she decided to give the cyber-zombie Ryo's fury as well.

Bryan felt King slam her foot into his face, knocking him back a few steps. King quickly added to Bryan's injuries with two Trap Shots. Leaping into the air, King landed a hard blow to Bryan's chest.

King lashed out her foot, but unfortunately for her, Bryan snapped out of his daze in time to see it coming. Bryan held up his hands and caught King's leg before it struck him. Everyone in the audience watched as Bryan flipped King into the air and watched as she landed on her back.

Bryan stepped over to King and looked down at her, smirking. "Not so tough now, are ya, cutie?" He asked as he raised his foot, preparing to slam it down onto her head.

The Thai fighter quickly rolled to the side as Bryan's foot slammed into the canvas. Rolling onto her back, King thrust her foot out, slamming it into Bryan's chest again. As the cyber-zombie staggered back, King sprung to her feet.

King took advantage of Bryan's stunned state and ran at him again. The female fighter leapt into the air and slammed her foot against Bryan's face in a flying kick, making the ex-cop back towards the ropes around the arena.

If Bryan had all of his senses in order, he would have seen King run around him. But because he didn't, it was all too late until he realized that King grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder, over the ropes.

Bryan landed in the node of The Terminator. The metal monster quickly riddled Bryan's body with bullets, but we all know that doing that to Bryan is a very stupid idea.

When the game's hero entered the room two minutes later, all he saw was the metal machine laying on the ground in about fifty-seven pieces.

Back in the arena, Mel had just finished another one of Branky's punishments, and that was repeatedly slamming the wolf-puppet against one of the turnbuckles.

Mel lifted Branky up to her face and glared at her. "Okay, Branky. Are you ready to behave now?"

The puppet quickly nodded. "Yes! Yes! Just don't hit me against that thing again!" Branky begged. "That hurts worse that the wall of the Inn back in Iksay!"

Mel nodded as she turned around to start another fight. She suddenly saw Wile E. Coyote standing several feet away, scratching his head, looking at her with a confused expression.

"What's the matter?" Mel asked curiously. "You've never seen a puppet before?"

Wile E. lifted his finger into the air and opened his mouth to start his reply when Mel interrupted him. "Well, since you don't seem to be doing anything, how about a battle?"

The brown coyote pondered this for a few seconds, then nodded.

Mel beamed. "Great!" The blue-clad girl shoved Branky out, causing another stream of fire to spew from the puppet's mouth.

Seeing the beam of fire coming at him, Wile E.'s eyes bugged out, then he held up a sign that read 'Yipe!'.

Mel watched as the fire finally died down, and once it did, she was expecting to see Wile E. defeated. But what she saw instead was Wile E., almost completely black, staggering in place. Mel's eyes widened. "How did you take that and remain standing?" She asked.

Wile E. held up yet another sign. This one read 'That happens to me at least once in every cartoon I'm in. I've gotten used to it by now.'. After putting the sign away, Wile E. shook himself repeatedly, shaking all of the soot off of his fur, turning him back into his natural brown colour again.

The brown coyote quickly ran at Mel and drove his knee into her face.

"You furry punk!" Branky shouted. "You can't hurt Mel like that!"

Branky slammed her head into Wile E.'s forehead, knocking the cartoon character back a couple of steps. Mel quickly came back to her senses and ran at Wile E., slamming her foot into his stomach.

Wile E. stood straight and looked down at Mel with an angered glare. Mel suddenly realized that Wile E. was at least two feet taller than she was.

Deciding to finish the fight, Wile E. pushed Mel away from him.

Mel staggered back a couple of steps, but was otherwise unharmed. She looked at Branky and laughed. "That was an attack?" She chuckled. "It looks like we actually have this one easy!"

"Yeah!" Branky agreed. "Let's get him!"

Mel turned to Wile E. to attempt to throw him from the arena but stopped when she saw him with a large dynamite box, getting ready to push down on the plunger. Girl and puppet followed the wire with their eyes until they saw a trio of dynamite sticks by Mel's feet.

Mel and Branky looked at each other. "How the heck did he do that?" Branky asked.

Wile E. quickly jammed down on the dynamite box, causing a spark to travel along the wires connected to it. As soon as the spark touched the dynamite, the explosives went up, sending Mel and Branky spiraling out of the arena.

Mel landed in Rocky Rodent. Pecky, mistaking her for an enemy, started pecking at Mel's head.

Toppo had turned just in time to see Mel, his nodal companion, get ejected from the arena. His eyes narrowed at Wile E., the silent juggler started walking forward, Master Sword in hand.

Until he heard the sound of knuckles being cracked. Looking over his shoulder, Toppo saw Rainbow Mika coming over, obviously looking for a fight. Toppo sighed and turned, Master Sword ready to attack.

"I'm surprised that you've actually managed to get two eliminations." Mika said. "But the hands won't go into the next section unless there's a specific amount of people in the arena. One more person needs to go before we can start the next wave."

Toppo narrowed his eyes and nodded before charging at Mika, pulling his newfound weapon back.

Mika, seeing Toppo coming, sprung onto her hands and catapulted herself into the air just as Toppo swung at her with the Master Sword. Mika sailed overtop of the legendary blade and slammed her feet into Toppo's face. Toppo staggered back, clutching his nose, but quickly recovered and ran at Mika again as she touched the canvas.

The female wrestler looked at Toppo in time to see a juggling ball coming at her head. Ducking, Mika avoided the rubber projectile, only to watch as Toppo threw another one. Mika ran at the juggler, avoiding all the juggling balls that were thrown at her.

Mika dove at Toppo and tackled him, knocking him to the ground. Mika quickly punched Toppo several times in the face before standing up and grabbing his legs. The blue-clad wrestler lifted Toppo into the air and slammed him into the canvas three times in a row

Landing on his back, Toppo looked up and saw Mika standing over him, smirking. "Looks like I win."

Toppo narrowed his eyes again and gripped the Master Sword tighter. Jabbing the weapon forward, Toppo intended to knock Mika off of him, but instead watched as Mika dodged the blade of steel.

Before Toppo had time to react, Mika had already grabbed him and threw him over the ropes with no hope of returning.

Toppo landed in the node of My Street, where he entertained the kids by juggling five balls while whistling the Mario Bros. Theme.

In the arena, Mika stood straight and turned around to look at who else was in the arena. King looked the worst, her hair messed up and several rips in her outfit. The others weren't looking too bad. Guile was working the muscles in his arms and popping his neck. Lucky Glauber was jumping in place, his mind focused on the opponents. Wile E. Coyote was holding an unlit stick of dynamite in his hand and Princess Peach was looking between Guile and Lucky, trying to determine which one was more dangerous.

Suddenly, everyone heard the two hands floating above the arena starting to laugh, signaling yet another arena alteration.

**RESULTS**

RAINBOW MIKA (SFA3)

LUCKY GLAUBER (KOF)

PEACH TOADSTOOL (SSB)

WILE E. COYOTE (LT)

WILLIAM GUILE (SFA3)

KING (KOF)

**(ELIMINATED)**

(GF)

LARCEN TYLER (EC)

KAGEMARU (VF)

TOPPO (S3)

HEAVY D! (KOF)

JOKER (S3)

BRYAN FURY (T5)

MEL (S3)

LINK (SSB)

HANZO HATTORI (SS)

SETSUNA (LB)

FRANCO BASH (FF)

KING LION (KE)

BAO (KOF)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Bruce's Distraction" **

M. BISON (SFA3) _**brainwashes**_ BRUCE IRVIN (T5)

"**Diamond City Smackdown" **

CHANG KOEHAN (KOF) _**pounds the tar out of**_ LEE CHAOLAN

"**Deadly Woman" **

JIN CHONREI (FF) and VIVIAN (PM2) _**apprehend**_ ANNA WILLIAMS (T5)

Eliminations: Mika, Lucky, Peach and Wile E., 2; Guile, King, G. Done, Larcen, Kage and Toppo, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: King (6), Bruce Irvin (6), Heavy D! (5), Chang Koehan (5), Rainbow Mika (4), Jubei Yagyu (4).

**Terrible Threes:** No SSB character so far has managed more than three eliminations. Does Peach have a chance of breaking this record?


	20. Section Nine

**(The Arena) **

The six remaining fighters in the arena looked up at the hands as they spun around each other in midair, getting ready to alter the arena again. Guile and Lucky were the only ones to notice the missing pieces of the arena float back and reform a square arena. In addition, the hole that Wile E. made when he tried dropping the safe on Joker sealed as well.

Crazy Hand pointed his fingers down at the arena as five beams of strange energy shot from the tips of them. Lucky and Peach ran to the side to avoid being struck, but when the beams stopped, the arena looked the same, although there were several streaks of black line scattered around the arena.

Wile E. scratched his head in confusion, wondering what had just happened. Suddenly, he felt his foot get a little warmer. Looking down, Wile E. saw that he was standing on one of the black lines, and his foot had caught fire.

"You fighters had better watch out for this one!" Unknown1 said as Wile E. hopped around, blowing on the fire on his foot. "If anyone stands on those black lines long enough, it'll get a heck of a lot hotter in here!"

Everyone suddenly realized that this meant the next fighter would be coming out soon. Looking at the entrance curtain, everyone waited for the fighter to emerge.

"**GAMBIT!" (MC) **

The Cajun mutant chuckled as he twirled his staff in his hands, looking at a card in the other hand. He looked at the card as it started to glow purple.

"The Ace of Spades." Gambit said to himself. "Always wins."

With a swing of his hand, Gambit had tossed the card into the arena, where it rested by Lucky's feet. The basketball player ran to avoid the following explosion, but ran right into a staff attack that Gambit, whom had jumped into the arena just before the card blew up.

"You're sneaky, man." Lucky rubbed his jaw. "I'll have to make sure I'm careful when eliminating you."

Gambit smirked slyly. "You sound confident, mon ami."

"**FUTCH!" (S3) **

The Dragon Knight came out from behind the curtain to a reasonably large cheer. Hefting his immensely large sword, Futch ran down to the arena and leapt in.

Looking around, Futch saw that he was currently the only Suikoden fighter in the arena. He sighed.

"Drat. I was hoping to do some double-teaming." Futch said. "It looks like I'm on my own for a bit."

Futch lashed out his sword at Gambit, whom easily blocked the attack with his staff.

"**RYO SAKAZAKI!" (KOF) **

"_The end of endings has started" _

"_The battle lines have been drawn" _

"_And as the smoke clears, we will be the ones marching on"_

Ryo came out to a large cheer and the words to 'Our Finest Hour' by Philmore. The first thing that went through Ryo's head was that he didn't remember requesting this song.

"_The gates of hell have been shaken" _

"_Terror fills their eyes"_

"_As we attack, we lift our voices in the battle cry" _

Looking up at the Sound Booth, Ryo saw Shadow, Astaroth and Aila waving lighters back and forth in the air. Ryo shook his head as he continued to the arena.

"_We will fight! We will be strong!" _

"_Together, we're marching on!" _

"_United, we move as one!" _

"_Our finest hour has just begun!" _

Ryo hit the arena and quickly lashed out a fireball at Guile. The American soldier saw this coming and dodged the blow.

"Hello again, Sakazaki." Guile said. "It's been a little bit since the last tournament, eh?"

Ryo narrowed his eyes. Guile had beaten him in the last 'SNK vs. Capcom' tournament, and Ryo had been training for a rematch ever since. "I'm not going down like last time, Guile. Prepare yourself."

**(Hotel; Lobby) **

Musafar walked into the lobby with Gadget Z, listening to the smaller robot talk.

"And so, friend of mine that is not short." Gadget Z looked up at Musafar. "As the one that is you can be seeing, the place that is the one of the Hotel is among those that are the ones that are large."

The larger robot scratched his head, then shrugged.

"Remember the old saying, Musafar." Gadget Z stopped rolling forward to stare off into space as if about to say something profound. "He who eats sweets…Take up two seats."

Musafar stood in silence, wondering what his new friend was talking about.

Suddenly, Gadget Z heard a noise coming from behind. Turning in place, Gadget Z saw Joker of the Kizuna Encounter node and Gannondorf of the Smash Bros. node coming in.

"You've got an enemy on your tail!" Gadget Z shouted. "Use the brakes!"

Musafar took this as a warning and spun in place, huge fist outstretched. It connected with Gannondorf's face, firing the Gerudo king into the far wall with full force.

"Boo-Yah!" Gadget Z pumped his fist into the air.

Joker looked back at Gannondorf, then at Musafar. "What on Earth did you do that for?"

Unfortunately, Musafar was still in attack mode from Gadget Z's earlier warning and cracked his huge knuckles.

Gannondorf staggered back over to the clown crimeboss and rubbed his chin. "I don't think it's much use talking to this thing. Looks like we'll have to fight our way through." He said.

Musafar got into his stance, getting ready to take the two villains on.

"I'm right behind ya, kid!" Gadget Z raised his bolt-shaped hammer and rolled into battle to aid Musafar.

**(The Arena) **

"**M. BISON!" (SFA3) **

The leader of Shadaloo grinned evilly as he floated down to the arena, arms folded. The plot he was leading was looking good, and now that Thai fighter Bruce Irvin was a loyal soldier.

"_Now all I have to do is wait for that Maximillion character to enter."_ Bison thought. _"I just need to eliminate him with help from that stupid football player."_

"_Okay. The time has finally come to avenge Charlie."_ Guile thought as he watched Bison teleport into the arena. The soldier ran headfirst at his sworn enemy.

"_Okay. This jerk is probably in on this plot."_ R. Mika thought as she got into her stance. _"I need to get info from him, and fast."_ Mika ran at Bison.

"**KOJIROH SANADA!" (LB) **

Kojiroh, or rather his sister Kaori, came out from behind the curtain and ran down to the arena, preparing to take on anyone she could.

"I must make my brother proud." 'Kojiroh' said through her teeth as she jumped into the arena. "I don't care if he's dead. I'm not going to let him down."

Kojiroh suddenly saw Futch dueling Gambit. Seeing that Futch wielded a sword, Kojiroh saw him as a worthy opponent.

Pulling her sword from its holster, Kojiroh ran at Gambit and knocked him out of the way before facing Futch.

"What was that for?" Futch asked.

"I've come to challenge you, as I've seen that you're a swordsman as well." Kojiroh said.

Futch looked at Kojiroh for a moment before nodding. "Okay, but keep in mind that I won't go easy on you just because you're a girl."

Kojiroh's eyes snapped open as she lashed out with her sword. _"How does he know?"_

"**JOHNNY MAXIMUM!" (WH) **

"…_Bisoooonnnn…" _

In the ring, Bison's eyebrows raised in confusion. Knocking Guile and Mika away, Bison turned to look at the entrance ramp.

J. Maxx stood outside of the entrance curtain, his arms resting against his sides. It was almost as if he was oblivious to the mixed reaction the crowd was giving him. The football player's eyes were blood red, and he was seething in anger.

His son on his mind, J. Maxx's gaze pierced through anyone in its path until it reached Bison. If looks could kill, the dark football player could have set an entire city ablaze.

"**BISOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN!"** J. Maxx roared in fury as he charged down the ramp headfirst, murder the only thing on his mind.

Bison could do nothing as the furious football star tackled him and started beating on him.

"_Rain, rain on my face" _

"_Hasn't stopped raining for days"_

Because of J. Maxx's fury show, not a lot of people were noticing a puddle of water seep out from behind the curtain. The strange puddle rolled down the ramp until coming to rest at the bottom.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**NINE**!"

"_My world is a flood" _

"_Slowly, I become one with the mud"_

"**LIQUIDATOR!" (Darkwing Duck) **

The puddle suddenly extended into the air, forming a dog of water, the Liquidator. The water-dog looked out into the arena as Jars of Clay came through the speakers.

"_And if I can't swim after forty days!" _

"_And my mind is crushed by the crashing waves!" _

"_Lift me up so high that I cannot fall!" _

"_Lift me up!" _

"And now, folks, it's time to see what damage the Liquidator can do!" Liquidator said as he looked at the audience and jumped into the arena.

Wile E. saw the odd villain jump into the arena and pulled out a stick of dynamite. Running over to the Liquidator, the brown coyote jammed the explosive into the water-dog's body.

Liquidator stood in silence, looking at the explosive that was floating around in his stomach. Suddenly, it exploded, making Liquidator expand a little. The strange dog quickly retracted back to normal size.

"That hurt." Liquidator said as smoke rose from underneath his floppy ears. "No one hurts the Liquidator!"

Wile E. looked at a cameraman and held up a sign that read 'None of this makes any sense'.

**(Hotel; Unknown Room) **

Amy Guile's eyes fluttered open. The first thing she realized was that she had a major headache. She tried raising her arm to feel her forehead, but suddenly found that she couldn't move it.

Amy quickly realized that she was tied to a chair. "What? What's going on here?" She asked.

"You've been kidnapped." An oddly familiar vice said to her left. "Join the club."

Amy look to the left and saw a Mel Masters, Junior Maximum, King's brother Jan and Louis, the squire of Chris Lightfellow, tied to chairs in a similar fashion as she was.

"Mel, what's going on?" Amy asked her cousin. "What're we all doing here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Mel muttered. "The only thing any of us know is that Bison is behind this."

"AND he blackmailed my dad to fight for him!" Junior piped up. "But then he had me kidnapped anyway." He looked up at the monitor in the room and saw his father continuing to beat on Bison. He chuckled, despite the condition he was in. "It looks like dad's found out."

"I'm not worried, though." Jan said confidently. "I heard that Ash Crimson loser say that there's some people trying to find us."

Amy sighed. "I hope you're right, Jan."

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Busuzima walked into the Eliminated Seating area and found a spot. Sitting down, the mad scientist looked out into the arena and gazed upon the fighters in the arena, or more specifically, Wile E. and Liquidator.

A sly smile formed on the green-haired man's face. "Those two would make excellent experiments." He said.

"Shut up, man." Shen Woo said, bopping Busuzima on the head with his fist.

Falco Lombardi suddenly came into the Eliminated Seating. He suddenly saw Busuzima and froze in his tracks.

"LEON'S EVERYWHERE!" Falco screamed as he turned tail and ran from the Eliminated Seating.

Busuzima scratched his head. "If he wasn't so weird, he'd make a good experiment himself."

**(The Arena) **

"**HON-FU!" (FF) **

Spinning his nunchucks around, Hon-Fu looked down into the arena and smirked.

"Looks like there isn't that much competition at the moment." The Hong Kong cop said confidently.

Hon-Fu ran down to the ring, thinking about whom to challenge. His first instinct was to take on Bison, but due to the fact that the evil dictator had Guile, Mika and J. Maxx triple-teaming him, the goofy cop decided to ignore him for the moment.

Gambit had spotted him and, needing a battle after Kojiroh had knocked him away from Futch, drew his staff and charged.

"**FRED MAXIMILLION!" (S3) **

Fred came out from behind the curtain, and once he did, people saw that he was a prettyboy. However, Fred figured that what he had that characers like Borus, Percival and Ash Crimson didn't was determination.

Raising his sword into the air, Fred let out a battle cry and ran down the ramp, leaping into the arena.

Bison saw Fred jump in and groaned. "Great. The one person I want eliminated and I can't get to him." He said just before Guile landed a Flash Kick to his chin.

Fred landed in the arena and lifted his sword even higher. "Prepare yourself vile man!" He shouted at Bison. "I, Fred Maximillion, of the Maximilion Knights, shall vanquish you!"

The number of people beating on Bison went from three to four after that.

"**AKIRA YUKI!" (VF) **

Virtua Fighter's leading character came out to a reasonably loud cheer. Akira looked around, nodded once and ran down to the arena.

Mika ended up doing a double-take when Akira entered the arena. For a second, she thought she was seeing Ryu enter again. Mika quickly shook her head, telling herself that Ryu had already been eliminated.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Muscle Power laughed heartily and looked at the person beside him. "Hey, Ryu! Look! It's your long-lost twin brother!"

Without looking, Ryu slammed his fist into the loud wrestler's face.

**(The Arena) **

"**ROY!" (SSB) **

"Okay. This shouldn't be too tough." Roy said to himself. "Marth is up in the Eliminated Seating, so all I have to do to show him how it's done is get one elimination."

The redhead swordsman ran down to the arena and leapt in, careful not to burn himself by landing on one of the black lines.

Roy looked around at all of the fighters in the arena that wielded swords. He smirked as his own sword ignited with fire.

It was good having an elemental sword.

**(Dome; Snack Bar) **

Sodom walked into the Snack Bar in hopes of getting something to drink for a few of the gang. He had, unfortunately, lost a bet, meaning that he was the one treating.

The Japanese wannabe suddenly saw the condition the Snack Bar was in. "Yeych!" Sodom said in disgust as he stepped over a broken table and approached the counter.

"Uh…May I help you, sir?" The man behind the counter asked. Sodom could have sworn that the man quickly muttered. "Please don't wreck my Snack Bar."

"Let's see…I'll take…Three lemonades, two Mountain Dews and a Coke, please." Sodom said, looking at the menu.

The owner sighed in relief. "Coming right up, sir."

Sodom waited patiently for the drinks to come, whistling an off-key tune.

"Oy, vey." A new voice came from behind. "Juggernaut really did a number on this joint."

Sodom instantly recognized the owner of the voice as Balrog, but chose not to turn around and instead listen in.

If Sodom turned around, he would have seen Balrog and Hopper come into the Snack Bar and sit down at one of the few undestroyed tables.

"Yeah, but a meeting place is a meeting place." Hopper added. "King Lion said he'd meet us here once he appeared back in the Recovery Room."

Sodom continued to listen in. _"This is odd. Several villains working together? Something's up."_

Balrog nodded. "Once we meet King Lion again, we'll be able to go after the next target. Who is it again?"

"Lilly Kane, but we're not supposed to go after her until her brother is in the arena." Hopper replied.

Sodom's eyes widened behind his mask. _"I have to do something!"_ He thought.

"Um…Sir? Here are your drinks."

Sodom looked forward again and saw the owner of the Snack Bar with a tray of drinks. "Oh. Thank you." Sodom quickly pulled out a five-dollar bill and gave it to the owner. "Keep the change."

Sodom grabbed the tray of drinks and quickly walked out of the Snack Bar. Luckily, Balrog and Hopper didn't notice him.

**(The Arena) **

"**KUMA!" (T5) **

The large bear gave of a loud roar as he rolled down to the arena. This was it. It was time to make Master Heihachi proud by demolishing everyone in the arena, or at least weakening them so that Heihachi could have easy eliminations later on.

Once Kuma got to the arena, he looked around, trying to decide whom to take on first. Kuma took about two steps towards Ryo Sakazaki when Peach slammed a frying pan upside his head.

Kuma groaned as he got to his feet. Maybe this would be tougher than he thought.

"**NEINHALT SEIGER!" (SS) **

The giant man came out from behind the curtain and looked down at the arena. Seeing Kuma, Seiger flexed his gigantic, mechanical arm and strode down to the ring.

Once he reached the arena, Seiger grabbed Kuma with his giant arm and threw the bear across the arena. "Filthy animal!" Seiger shouted. "You dare pick on someone as elegant and fragile as the princess?"

"Thank you sir." Peach said before smashing a golf club over Seiger's head. "But I'm not as fragile as you say."

"And now, the final fighter of this Section…"

"**KIM KAPHWAN!" (KOF) **

The Tae Kwon Do soldier of justice came out from behind the curtain to a loud cheer. Kim looked at a camera and flashed his trademark smile (the resulting glint blinded the poor cameraman for three days afterwards) before running down to the arena.

"Chang made me proud by getting all those eliminations, even though he was acting a little strange." Kim said to himself as he jumped into the arena. "Now it is time for me to show him how Tae Kwon Do is really done."

Fred saw Kim jump in and waved him over. "Good sir! Would you mind giving us a hand with this scum?" He asked, motioning to Bison.

Kim smirked. "Gladly."


	21. Section Nine Results

**(The Arena) **

Bison found out all too late how much villains were hated in the arena. The evil dictator currently had Guile, Mika, Lucky, Johnny Maximum and Fred ganging up on him, and none of them were showing any mercy whatsoever.

The dictator wasn't about to beg for mercy, so he leapt to his feet and shot forward in a Psycho Crusher, knocking Mika and J. Maxx away. Bison was quickly brought out of the Psycho Crusher when Guile slammed his hand onto the dictator's head, knocking the evil man to the ground.

Bison slowly got to his feet and looked around at the five people he was fighting. Guile narrowed his eyes and held his fists in the air, preparing to continue the onslaught. Lucky Glauber and Johnny Maximum cracked their knuckles, although J. Maxx glared at Bison darkly as he did so. Fred swung his sword a couple of times, obviously looking fresher than the others.

The evil dictator looked at Mika just in time to see the female wrestler bounding at him, then lunging into the air, hip-first.

On the other side of the arena, Kojiroh and Roy had locked swords again. Everyone was quickly noticing that Kojiroh was proving to be a far better fighter than the other Last Blade fighters before her, and Roy was showing a lot more energy than Marth was in Section One. Roy was wanting to show the audience that he was a better fighter than Marth, and was putting all of his skill and energy into this fight. Kojiroh, on the other hand, wasn't fighting with energy as much as Roy.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Marth shook his head. "That Roy. Still as stupid as ever."

Pai Chan turned to face the blue-haired prince. "What makes you say that?"

"You'll see."

The Chinese girl shrugged, then went back to cheering Akira on.

**(Hotel; Outside Sagat's Room) **

"This way!" Sagat shouted as he charged down the hallway with Chun-Li and E. Honda on his heels.

After Bruce had created the distraction by fighting Bison, Sagat had wasted no time in finding help. Making a quick pit stop at the Street Fighter locker room, Sagat had told Chun-Li and Honda about the predicament and now the giant man was leading the two to his room to help Bruce with Bison before something happened.

Now, Sagat had no doubt of Bruce's fighting ability, but leaving the Thai fighter to take on Bison alone was a very stupid mistake.

"Are you sure he's still in there?" Chun-Li asked.

"I can only hope so." Sagat muttered. "Bruce has fighting talent, but taking on Bison is going to be too much for him."

The trio quickly arrived at the door to Sagat's room. The giant man quickly kicked open the door and led the way in, but froze two feet into the room. Chun-Li couldn't stop in time and slammed into Sagat's back. Honda quickly followed, smashing into Chun-Li's back, knocking all three fighters to the floor.

Sagat quickly stood up and looked around. The room was a total wreck, as furniture was overturned and, in some cases, in pieces. There were several dents in the wall, where Bruce and Bison had collided with on different occasions.

And the worst part? Bruce and Bison were nowhere to be seen.

Sagat's good eye widened. "No." He breathed. "He took him. Bison's got Bruce."

"This doesn't make any sense!" Chun-Li looked around. "What would that freak want with Bruce?"

"I don't know, but I don't really want to find out." Sagat said.

**(The Arena) **

Kojiroh continued locking swords with Roy. Every time one fighter swung their sword, the other quickly and easily blocked it. From the looks of things, neither of the two were winning the fight, and were mainly fighting to prevent being eliminated.

However, Roy took this opportunity to put the battle in his favour a little, and cheat. Breaking his sword away from Kojiroh's, Roy slammed it into the ground, creating a small explosion of fire, which sent Kojiroh flying away.

The female fighter landed on her side, clutching her arm. She stood up and glared at Roy, preparing to charge him again. However, just before she started to run, Futch came over and stopped her.

"Excuse me, miss Kojiroh." The Dragon Knight said. "I currently don't have anyone fighting me and I notice that you aren't battling anyone either at the moment."

"I'm sorta busy at the moment." Kojiroh said, not taking her eyes off Roy.

"Oh, come on! It'll just be for a little bit. We both know that you won't be able to beat me. I just need someone to entertain me for a while."

Kojiroh froze in her tracks and slowly turned her head to glare at Futch. "You really think I can't beat you, don't you?" She asked.

Futch nodded. "No offense, but look at the size of my weapon and compare it to yours." He said as he hefted his huge sword. "I don't think you really stand a chance."

"Okay, then. We'll fight." Futch didn't quite catch the monotone voice Kojiroh was using.

"Good." Futch said with another nod.

Before Futch could do anything else, Kojiroh grabbed him and chucked him out of the arena. "I win." She said with a smirk before running at Roy.

"And with that, Last Blade now has their first elimination!" SSBFreak shouted through the sound system.

Futch landed in Super Adventure Island. Master Higgins, riding his skateboard, tripped over him, then started chucking stone axes at him.

In the arena, Guile staggered back from where Bison had hit him. Narrowing his eyes at Bison, the American soldier was about to charge into battle again when J. Maxx suddenly collided with his stomach, courtesy of one of Bison's throws.

Bison smirked as he backhanded Mika away. He then grabbed Lucky's arm and spun him around, sending him flying into Fred. "You fools are no match for me!" He cackled. "Even though you outnumber me five to one!"

Guile suddenly saw Bison's vile smirk get ever bigger. The soldier knew that this meant something bad was about to happen. Out of instincts, Guile spun in place.

"FLASH KICK!"

When Guile landed gracefully on his feet, he saw Kuma flying straight out of the arena. Turning back around, Guile saw Bison sneering again. This probably meant that the giant bear was somehow in league with Bison.

Kuma landed in Deerhunter. Let's just say that the hunter can't really tell the difference between a bear and a deer.

Almost right after Kuma was eliminated, J. Maxx torpedoed into Bison's side, knocking the evil dictator onto the mat, laying across what must have been seven streaks of the searing hot energy on the canvas.

"I thought I told you that if you helped me, your son would be alright!" Bison said through his teeth. "Why do you double-cross me?"

"You lied to me, you scum!" J. Maxx roared. "I'll see to it that you pay dearly for betraying me like this!"

The others were wondering what the two were talking about, but they didn't have time to press the matter any further. Bison kicked J. Maxx in the chin, knocking the dark football player off of him. Bison then threw himself at J. Maxx in a Psycho Crusher, sending the World Hero into Liquidator, who started attacking him.

R. Mika slowly got to her feet and cracked her knuckles as she looked at the Bison fight. J. Maxx was now trying to fight off the Liquidator and Fred had gone off to fight Akira Yuki. This left Guile and Lucky fighting Bison on their own, and they looked like they were starting to lose.

Mika got into her stance and charged.

**(Hotel; Lounge) **

Dan, Reed, Samus, Cody, Asuka Kazama and Nei stood inside the Lounge nervously. They all knew that they'd need to try and take out Bison and stop this plot, but in all honestly, they didn't like their chances. Including Mika, there were only seven of them and Bison had a lot of people on his side.

"What do you guys think?" Dan asked. "Mika said she'd get some more help, but I don't think we'll get enough help in time."

"What choice do we have?" Asuka asked. "This plot needs to be stopped and we're the only ones that know about it."

"AND we can't run the risk of letting everyone here know." Reed sighed. "It'll just make the villains suspicious."

"Well, we may as well start forming a plan." Cody shook his head.

"Wait!"

The six 'good' fighters turned to see Heavy D!, Ryoko and Bridget running into the Lounge.

"We hear you're trying to stop this plot!" Bridget shouted.

"You know about it, too?" Dan asked.

"Yeah!" D! replied as they arrived at Dan's side. "In fact, so does-"

*BAMF!*

The next thing everyone knew was seeing a familiar blue-skinned mutant appear in a cloud of purple smoke.

"Where the heck have you been, man?" D! asked.

"Uh…I've been tryingk to find you guys eever since I vas eliminated." Nightcrawler said nervously.

"Uh…Okay."

**(The Arena) **

Seiger and Gambit circled each other, each of them looking at the other carefully. Seiger knew that Gambit was quick and agile, and wanted to make sure he didn't underestimate the smaller fighter. Gambit, on the other hand, had taken one look at Seiger and instantly knew that he was as strong as an ox.

The larger man lunged at Gambit and thrust his fist out. The Cajun mutant leapt to the side and swung his staff, striking the metal plating on Seiger's giant arm, creating several sparks.

"You should really try to make your attacks a little quicker, mon ami." Gambit smirked. "You will just lose quicker that way."

Seiger quickly slammed his fist into Gambit's face, knocking him back twenty feet.

"And you should really learn to attack while you talk." The giant man added. "That will leave you open to attack."

Suddenly, a glowing card attached itself to Seiger's foot. The resulting explosion sent him flying away to another part of the arena.

Gambit smirked. "Good advice, mon ami."

Seiger wasn't sure what he landed on, but whatever it was, it was way to soft to be the arena canvas. Curiously, Seiger looked over his shoulder to see what he had landed on, but once he did, his eyes snapped open.

Princess Peach, laying on her stomach now, was looking over her shoulder at Seiger, a menacing glare in her eyes.

Seiger tried apologizing, but there was very little he could do.

Peach, showing a shocking amount of strength, lifted Seiger over her head and tossed him over the ropes. With Seiger eliminated, Peach smoother out her dress, turned around and resumed her fight with Hon-Fu.

Seiger landed in Snow Brothers. The heroes of the game, not really the brightest bulbs in the box, instantly began pelting Seiger with snowballs.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

Unknown1 scratched his head. "I had no idea Seiger could be turned into a snowball that quickly."

"That's nothing. I heard that the Snow Brothers were the ones to turn Hoth into a frozen wasteland in the first place."

**(The Arena) **

Gambit chuckled as he spun his staff in his hand. "I may not 'ave been de one to get de elimination, but dat was a blast to watch."

"Trap Shot!"

Without looking, Gambit swung his staff to the right, blocking the projectile that was shot at him. Turning, Gambit saw King coming over, all the fatigue looking like it was really starting to weigh her down.

"You don't know when to give up, eh chere?" Gambit asked. "From the looks of things, you should be in the Recovery Room about now."

King acted like she was oblivious to the fact that she had two black eyes and her hair was completely messed up. "I bet I could still beat you here!"

Gambit shook his head. "I cannot bring myself to harm an injured person."

King smirked. "I'm not injured. Not by a long shot."

Gambit sighed. "Okay, mon chere. You are askin for it." Gambit pulled his staff into the air and charged at King, who simply put up her fists and got into her stance.

The instant Gambit was close enough, King leapt into the air and kicked with her left foot, which was now her good foot. King's foot landed against Gambit's cheek, knocking the mutant man back several steps.

King, despite not being able to feel either of her legs anymore, ran at Gambit and plowed into him with her shoulder, forcing the Cajun back. King quickly forced Gambit over the ropes and stood straight as she watched him fall from the arena. If King would have been feeling her legs, she would have felt a searing heat burning through them from the energy streaks on the canvas.

Now that J. Maxx was assisting him, Wile E. Coyote was having a little easier time fighting Liquidator. The brown coyote could tell that J. Maxx wanted to tear Bison to pieces for some odd reason, but this strange water-dog was preventing him from doing so.

"Let me through, waterboy!" J. Maxx ordered. "I wanna eliminate that Bison creep, and nothing's gonna stop me!"

Liquidator created a pillar of water from the ground, which blocked J. Maxx's next punch. "For a limited time only, you too can get a severe beating by the one and only Liquidator! All you need is to make him mad! WHICH HE IS!"

Everyone left in the arena suddenly caught sight of a huge tidal wave leaping out from underneath the arena. People scattered. Guile, Mika and Lucky ran away from Bison, who quickly teleported to safety once he saw the wave coming. Everyone else ran to the ropes and prepared to hang on for dear life.

Wile E. quickly pulled out a stick of dynamite, lit it and threw it at Liquidator just before activating his jetpack and flying to safety.

The tidal wave hit the arena and swept through in a flash. Everyone hanging onto the ropes had to grip even tighter. If they had any looser of a grip, Liquidator would have had at least six eliminations easily.

Once the wave died down, Kim Kaphwan was the first to climb back into the arena. "That scum!" The freedom-fighter glared at Liquidator with hate. "Such a cheap move should not be permitted! I say we all gang up on that villain! Who's with me?"

It was then that Kim suddenly saw that no one else had climbed back into the arena yet. Looking down, Kim suddenly saw Wile E's stick of dynamite laying by his feet.

Even if Kim had any time to block, there was nothing he could have done. The insane soldier of justice was sent arcing over the ropes and out of the arena after the explosive went up.

As soon as they heard the explosion, everyone climbed back into the arena.

Kim landed in Rayman, where he used his Tae Kwon Do skills to take out Mr. Dark well before the limbless hero even showed up.

**(Unknown Field) **

"I just don't understand it." Gambit sighed as he sat on a low stool. "This woman was so weighed down by fatigue dat I was sure I would beat her."

The Cajun mutant looked at the black-haired little girl who was running the wooden psychiatry stand. "But she still managed to defeat me. Is it me?"

The black-haired girl pondered this, then looked at Gambit. "Boy, you blockhead. It sure sounds like it. I mean, you underestimate your opponent for a few seconds and she clobbers you! What you need to do is not let up! And then let your opponent have it!"

Suddenly, the young girl sent her fist flying into Gambit's face, making the grown man spin head over heels three times in midair before landing on his back.

"Five cents, please." The black-haired girl said, holding out a tin can.

Nearby, a bald-headed kid saw this and sighed. "Good grief."

**(Hotel; Lobby) **

"**TAKE NO PRISONERS!" **

Musafar again took Gadget Z's statement into account and stepped up the attack rate he was delivering on Gannondorf. The Gerudo King was seriously beginning to reconsider his opinion of the Galaky Fight node.

Gannondorf quickly rolled out of the way as Musafar's giant fist soared past him. Jumping to his feet. Gannondorf lunged at the giant robot in a Gerudo Dragon. The evil king swung his fist in an upward arc, hoping to break off Musafar's arm.

Unfortunately for the Hylian villain, the punch did little more than make a dent in Musafar's shoulder. The giant robot looked down at Gannondorf, annoyed, and swung his fist, connecting it with Gannondorf's chin, firing the Gerudo King into the wall again.

Gadget Z, in the meantime, swung his hammer at Joker. The roller-blading crime boss skated to the side as the malfunctioning robot's weapon struck the marble floor of the lobby. Gadget Z swung again, this time making contact. The wind knocked out of him, Joker staggered back.

Gadget Z raised his fists into the air and screamed. "QWAAAAAAAAAAAAA- *bzzt*" Gadgzet Z suddenly stared forward in a odd expression as a strange voice came from his systems. _"Go, go, gophers! Watch'em go, go, go!"_

Musafar scratched his head and smacked Gadget Z on the noggin.

"*bzzt* -AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRK!"

Joker used this to his advantage, kicking both robots in the head before running over to Gannondorf and pulling him from the wall.

"Let's take these two annoyances out!" Joker said.

Gonnondorf rubbed his aching chin and nodded. The two villains approached the robots together.

"Do a Barrel Roll!" Gadget Z cried out suddenly.

Musafar stood in silence for a few seconds, shrugged and flipped forward.

Gannondorf and Joker suddenly froze when they saw where Musafar was going to land. Before either of them had time to react, the giant robot had landed directly on them, creating a loud crash and shaking the floor of the hotel.

Musafar got up off of the unconscious bodies of Gennondorf and Joker and looked at Gadget Z.

"We're the champs!" The small robot shouted, looking like he was jumping in place.

The two were then on their merry way, leaving the two villains on the ground.

**(Hotel; Lounge) **

Dan slowly stood up and looked out the door. "What the heck was that?"

"An earthquake it seems." Bridget replied.

"Well, whatever it was, it's finished." Nei sighed in relief. "Okay. Back to business."

"Quite." D! nodded. "Okay. We're all aware of this plot, so now we've just about got enough people on our side."

"Yeah, but we don't have any clue as to where these villains are hiding out." Ryoko scratched her head.

"I think we might be able to help you with that."

Everyone turned to the door and saw Jin Chonrei and Vivian coming into the room, lugging the unconscious form of Anna Williams.

"We found her talking to Vega about picking up the next target." Chonrei explained.

Dan was about the reply when Andy Bogard rounded the corner, Lee Chaolan draped over his shoulder. Lei Wulong followed behind.

"Your friend Mika threw him from the ring in a fury and knew he was up to something." Andy explained.

Dan's face lit up. "Great! Maybe we can get some answers out of these two!"

**(The Arena) **

The triple-teaming against Bison continued. J. Maxx would have joined Guile, Lucky and Mika in fighting the dictator, but Liquidator wasn't giving him a chance.

Guile was curious as to why J. Maxx and Lucky were so intent on fighting Bison, but had welcomed the help in taking him down. Lashing out a Sonic Boom, Guile was able to stall Bison long enough for Lucky to drive a basketball into the back of his head. Annoyed, Bison turned around to kill the tall basketball player when he noticed a sly smirk staring back at him.

"What could possibly be so funny, foolish man?" Bison sneered.

"_**BANZAI!" **_

Bison turned just in time to see Mika leaping from a turnbuckle. The female wrestler landed directly on Bison's head, but it did little more than surprise the evil dictator.

With Bison distracted, Guile turned to Lucky. "I appreciate the help, but why are you so intent on taking Bison down?"

Lucky looked around to make sure that no one was looking, then turned back to Guile. "Bison's in on some sort of plot. We don't know what he intends to do, but it involves kidnapping a number of specific people gathered here."

Guile looked at Bison with his eyes narrowed. "Such an evil plan, but this doesn't surprise me."

Lucky sighed. "Well, I don't think you'll be saying that when you find out who one of the targets is."

Guile turned back to the basketball player. "Who?"

Lucky shrunk back and started to wince. "Your daughter."

Guile ran at Bison less than a second later, screaming psychotically.

The American soldier pounced Bison and pressed him against the canvas. "WHERE'S MY DAUGHTER?" He screamed.

Bison looked at Guile strangely. "What? How did you know that I had my men kidnap her in the first place?"

Guile didn't answer that. He simply continued the interrogation. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?"

The red-clad dictator smirked. "Harm me and your daughter dies." He threatened.

Guile shoved his face closer to Bison and stared him in the eyes. "You harm HER and I will personally see to it that you don't survive the night." He said icily.

There was enough hate in Guile's eyes to make even Bison shiver.

Grasping Bison's collar, Guile got up and looked at another of his apparent allies. "Hey, Maximum!"

J. Maxx slowly turned around.

"Catch!" Guile shouted just before throwing Bison in J. Maxx's direction.

J. Maxx saw the dictator coming his way and his already red eyes deepened even more. "Bisoooooooooooooon…" He seethed as he crouched low.

Everyone in the stands watched in awe as J. Maxx leapt into the air in a flying tackle and collided with Bison's torso, launching the evil man over the ropes.

"This…Isn't…HAPPENING!" Bison screamed as he fell into the vortex.

Bison landed in the pit in Mortal Kombat, where he suddenly remembered that he could teleport. He spent the next ten minutes taking his aggression out on Reptile.

Lucky smirked. "Well, so much for him."

Mika sighed. "Yeah, but that was also our only hope of finding out where he's hiding."

"…Not so…"

Lucky and Mika turned to see Guile looking at the floor.

"One of you can eliminate me." Guile said, his voice sounding like it was starting to crack. "My daughter is counting on me and I'll kill myself if I let Bison do anything to her."

Lucky and Mika looked at each other, then back at Guile. "Okay." Mika said. "Once you return, keep an eye open for either Dan or Heavy D!. Both of our groups have probably met up by now."

Guile nodded furiously. "Okay! Okay! Just do it and get me out of here!"

Mika looked at Lucky. "You do it, Lucky. I don't think I should be the one to eliminate my own nodal companion."

Lucky nodded, grabbed Guile and threw him out of the arena. "Well, now what?"

Guile landed in Tekken, where people kept mistaking him for a guy named 'Paul Phoenix'.

After eliminating Bison, J. Maxx landed on his feet and stood straight. Now that Bison was gone, J. Maxx felt a little better. But that still didn't help the fact that his son was in extreme danger, possibly even more now that Bison was gone from the arena.

"I need to get out of here somehow." J. Maxx muttered. "But how?"

An idea suddenly struck the dark football player. He turned to the Liquidator. "Your father was a weatherman for the National Duck!" He shouted, hoping to insult the water-dog.

Silence.

J. Maxx decided to try again. "Your mother was his co-host!"

Again, silence.

"Your uncle drives a cherry picker!"

Liquidator threw J. Maxx out of the arena and scratched his head. How the heck did that guy know so much about his family?

J. Maxx landed in NFL Street, where he helped the home team score a few points by pounding the opposing team into the ground.

Roy slashed his sword in a horizontal strike, attempting to do some damage to Kojiroh. For the past five minutes, Kojiroh had done nothing but evade his attacks. There was the occasional time where Kojiroh would lash out with her own sword, which the redhead swordsman would quickly and easily block.

"_I don't understand this."_ Roy thought. _"She's done nothing but avoid my attacks and she using weak strikes when she DOES attack."_ Deciding that it was because he was the better fighter, Roy continued the onslaught. _"I need to eliminate her quickly if I'm to find a better challenge. I'll just have to step up my attacking."_

As Roy took another swing at Kojiroh (which she avoided), he looked up at the Eliminated Seating and saw Marth sitting there, shaking his head in hopelessness with his eyes closed. Roy raised an eyebrow as he turned back to Kojiroh. What was wrong?

The next time Roy swung at Kojiroh, his sword suddenly felt a bit heavier. Kojiroh noticed this and smirked, lashing out her sword, slashing across Roy's chest armour.

Roy knew that he needed to take Kojiroh out now, so he pulled his sword back and started glowing, preparing to deliver his most powerful move.

Kojiroh stepped back, a little surprised as the flames that started swirling around his sword, getting bigger and bigger by the second. The female sword fighter knew that she need to move out of the way or else this move would eliminate her for sure.

"Remember to call the Fire Department, kiddies!" Everyone heard the Liquidator shout.

Suddenly, a blob of water, courtesy of the water-dog, fell from the sky and landed directly on Roy, drenching him and putting out the fire on his sword, negating the attack. Roy, seeing his attack being rendered useless, swung at Kojiroh again in anger.

Except that he was so tired that his swing was slow and pathetic.

Seeing her plan work, Kojiroh grabbed Roy and vaulted him over the ropes and into the elimination vortex.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Marth sighed. "That idiot."

Pai Chan looked at Marth again. "Why?"

"Any good swordsman knows that if you're entering a tournament with no breaks, not to use all your energy right away. Roy spent so much time attacking Kojiroh that he wore himself out in a matter of minutes."

Pai sat in silence, realized that she couldn't come up with a good response, shrugged and continued watching the arena, cheering Akira on.

Roy, in his elimination node, stood up, looked around and found himself in a field.

He sighed. "I can't believe that someone as skilled as I am could be eliminated so easily! And by someone from a node that hasn't seen any work in a while! I had entered the arena hoping that I could do better than Marth and I end up doing just as bad! Everyone knows that I'm better out of the two of us, but I can't even score one measly elimination! I mean, Mario and Link doing better than me I can understand, but FALCO did better than I did and PEACH is still in the arena! I don't BELIEVE how much this hurts my pride! And furthermore-"

All twenty people in the Unreal Championship game currently being played instantly sniped Roy from all directions, ending the rant and putting the loudmouth out of his misery.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

Unknown1 looked at SSBFreak. "What's the deal with sending these people to Unreal Championship? Roy's the fourth one to appear there."

"Hey, according to the ratings, people seem to like these guys getting blown sky high." SSBFreak shrugged. "The nodal computer seems to be reacting to this."

"So what do we do, then?"

"Go with it. I personally liked watching Marduk get blasted."

**(Street Fighter Locker Room) **

Everyone in the room jerked to attention when Sodom burst into the room, carrying a tray of drinks. If anyone would have been able to see his face, they would have seen that Sodom looked exhausted and frenzied at the same time.

As quickly as he could, Sodom handed out the drinks to the ones that had ordered them. As soon as he handed out the last drink, Sodom turned around and started for the door.

"Hey, Sodom? What's the problem?" Karin asked.

The American samurai turned, but continued backing away. "I…Uh…Just remembered something." He said, trying to come up with an excuse. "I…Uh…Forgot the change."

Karin shrugged. "Okay."

Sodom quickly turned around and flew out the door, taking something from a table with him.

"What's with him?" Guy asked.

"I have no idea." Karin replied with a shrug.

**(The Arena) **

Fred jabbed forward with his sword, hoping to strike Akira in the stomach. The Virtua Fighter swerved to the side and swung his foot, slamming it into the knight's head. Fred staggered to the side, allowing Akira to grab him and throw him to the ground.

Fred rolled to the side and jumped to his feet. "I must admit that you are incredibly skilled for an unarmed person." He complimented. "People from my node would be envious of you."

Akira nodded. "I appreciate it." He replied. "I am surprised at how well your node has been doing, myself." The serious fighter added. "Some of the people in your node have been getting a fair amount of eliminations."

Fred nodded. "Unfortunately, some of the others in my node haven't done especially well." He shrugged. "I know that when I eliminate you, I'll be able to add to that."

Akira simply put up his fists. "Unfortunately for you, my node needs the elimination more than yours." He said. "I will hold nothing back for eliminating you."

"See that you don't."

Fred charged at Akira and swung his sword again. Akira dodged the attack and shoved his fist out, striking Fred in the stomach.

The knight of justice quickly tried to attack again, this time putting all of his strength into his swing. Something this powerful would be incredibly painful if parried.

Akira quickly held his hands into the path of the sword and shocked Fred by grasping the sword, blocking it. And the most shocking thing? Akira didn't even flinch.

Fred was so shocked about what Akira had just done that he didn't even react when Akira countered his attack, forcing the knight over the ropes.

Fred landed in Altered Beast. Once he saw the transformed heroes, he thought they were monsters and tried attacking them.

Unfortunately, that wasn't a very bright move.

**(Suikoden Locker Room) **

Ace sighed. "Well, another one bites the dust. Let's face it, we're getting creamed."

"I wouldn't say that." Chris shrugged. "Sure, Lilly, Hugo and Futch got tossed almost instantly. But Watari managed FOUR eliminations, you know."

"Geddoe managed three as well." Kathy chimed in. "Reed, Nei and Toppo got two. Even Gadget Z and Shiba each got one elimination."

"And a good number of us still need to enter the arena." Leo added. "I would think that there's at least a couple more of us left that can score an elimination or two."

**(The Arena) **

Ryo was furious as he stormed over to where Lucky was sparring with Mika. Even though he was his nodal companion, Ryo was upset that Lucky had just taken his opportunity to have his rematch with Guile.

The Kyokugen fighter approached Lucky from behind and tapped the basketball player on the shoulder.

Lucky turned. "Yeah?"

The response Lucky got was a mouthful of fireball. Lucky was launched back several feet and landed a couple of yards away from the ropes. Ryo stalked over to the fallen sports star. Mika was tempted to help Lucky, but saw the angry glare on Ryo's face and decided to go challenge King instead.

Lucky stood up. "What the heck is wrong with you, Sakazaki?"

"You stole my elimination against Guile, Lucky!" Ryo accused. "I've been wanting to fight that guy since he beat me in the last tournament!"

"Man, you've seriously got issues." Lucky shook his head. "I'm your nodal companion, man! You can't just attack me like this!"

"Watch me." Ryo replied as he pulled his hands back.

Lucky sighed, seeing no way out of this. Raising his hand, he caught another basketball. "You're asking for this, Sakazaki."

Mika, in the meantime, ducked as King's foot soared over her head. Mika quickly tripped the female kickboxer off of her feet and stood up to catch her breath.

The female wrestler had about half a second before King leapt to her feet and charged. King lashed a bare fist out (the remains of her glove still hanging from her wrist), catching Mika in the face. King then leapt into the air and slammed her foot into Mika's face even harder.

The cuff of King's pant leg was already in shambles, and the speed and power of her kick was enough to detach several pieces of lose fabric from her pant leg, sending a few of them with Mika as the female wrestler landed several feet away.

Mika slowly got to her feet and brushed a piece of King's pant leg off her shoulder. She glared at the kickboxer and narrowed her eyes. The blue-clad wrestler broke into a run and charged at King.

King saw Mika barreling at her and quickly prepared to send a Trap Shot into her face.

Unfortunately for King, she couldn't say the words. It wasn't that she didn't want to do the move; instead, it was because she had so much fatigue that she had exhausted herself.

Mika plowed into King like a train and sent the female bartender, now the current leader, out of the arena.

King landed in Mario Power Tennis. In fact, she landed on a grassy hill that overlooked the Peach Dome, where the night's tennis finals were playing. Bowser's blimp (shaped like his head, of course) was floating over the dome.

King sighed and relaxed. "I guess it was bound to happen." She shrugged. "Ah. Seven eliminations is pretty good."

Suddenly, she heard a portal open overhead. Looking up, she saw Ryo fall through the portal and land on his back beside her.

King chuckled. "How'd it go, Ryo?"

Ryo groaned as he sat up. "How do you think?" He sighed. "Well, at least I get to spend the next ten minutes alone with you."

His girlfriend blushed and looked around, trying to change the subject. "Boy. It sure is a nice night out."

Ryo smirked. "Not as nice-looking as you, though."

King looked at Ryo and managed a smile. The two stared into each other's eyes as they drew their faces closer, preparing to kiss.

Suddenly, in the background, a Bomb-omb shot from the Peach Dome and landed inside the mouth of Bowser's blimp. The giant, floating machine promptly exploded, lighting up the night sky.

This happened just as Ryo and King's mouths touched. A few seconds later and the two pulled away from each other. "That was like an explosion." Ryo said lovingly.

The two quickly embraced, pulling the other in for a long, passionate kiss.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Takuma stared up at the monitors with a smile. "Finally. They kiss. It looks like I may end up becoming a grandfather after all."

Robert promptly spat out his drink again, drenching Hugo (although he was now holding an umbrella) for the second time.

**(The Arena) **

Lucky stood straight and smirked. After charging enough energy, all it took was a Lucky Driver followed directly by a Hellbound to send Ryo out of the arena.

Although Lucky felt a little weird with eliminating his own nodal companion, he shrugged a figured that Ryo was asking for it to begin with.

Hon-Fu's nunchucks struck Peach's frying pan for what must have been the seventh time. The two had been at it ever since shortly before Peach eliminated Seiger, and they both were starting to look like they were getting tired.

The Hong Kong cop normally would think twice about striking a lady, but Peach had proven herself in the ring thus far, meaning Hon-Fu wouldn't need to hold back.

Hon-Fu swung his foot at Peach, but the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom quickly ducked. Despite Hon-Fu being fresher than her, Peach was showing that she still hadn't lost any of her alertness.

Although Peach hated to admit it, this Chinese man was getting the better of her. Hon-Fu kept lashing out his nunchucks, all of which Peach either blocked or parried with her frying pan. She knew that if she didn't do something fast, she'd be eliminated for sure.

An idea suddenly struck the princess. As Hon-Fu prepared to swing again, Peach reached behind her back and pulled out her secret weapon, holding it in front of her.

Instead of striking Peach, Hon-Fu's nunchuck struck the cap of a small mushroom retainer named Toad. As soon as the weapon struck Toad's mushroom cap, countless amounts of spores shot forward, sending Hon-Fu into the air.

Peach quickly pulled out her umbrella and jumped skyward, striking the airborne cop several times. Peach gracefully landed on her feet and pulled out a golf club.

"FORE!" (in the Eliminated Seating, Max Eagle suddenly got bad memories of Section One and ran away screaming)

Peach's swing was a direct hit, and it was more than enough to remove Hon-Fu from the arena.

Hon-Fu landed in Jackie Chan: Stuntmaster. The thugs quickly thought they were seeing doubles and scattered.

Mika backhanded Akira Yuki across the face, knocking the Ryu-lookalike away a couple of feet. Ever since eliminating King, Mika had started a fight with Akira, seeing that he was also currently without an opponent.

Akira thrust his fist out, aiming for Mika's face. The wrestler saw the attack coming and grabbed Akira's hand before it struck her.

Letting out a shout, Mika spun Akira's hand, flipping the karate master around and making him land on his back.

"You're pretty good." Akira said as he got to his feet. "Not a whole lot of people can counter that move the way you did."

Mika nodded. "Thanks. I've been training to be a professional wrestler for a number of years now and I'm used to fighting all sorts of different fighting styles."

"Well, let's finish the fight."

"I thought you'd never ask."

Akira rushed at Mika, preparing to grab her and throw her from the ring. However, Mika proved to be just a little bit too fast for him. Leaping into the air, Mika spun and kicked with both legs. Both of Mika's feet came into contact with the side of Akira's face, knocking the Virtua Fighter to the canvas.

Deciding to end the fight with a bang, Mika ran off as Akira slowly stood up.

Shaking his head a few times, Akira looked around for his opponent. "Where the heck did she go?" He asked. "I wasn't expecting her to just run off on me."

Suddenly, Akira heard a whistle coming from behind. Turning, he saw Mika backing into the ropes, stretching them back as far as she could without slipping out of the arena.

Mika pulled her feet up and the ropes sprung back, launching the female wrestler at Akira. Seeing Mika pull her fist back, Akira knew that he was in deep trouble.

*POW!*

Mika had clotheslined Akira in the face, sending him spiraling out of the arena.

Akira landed in what looked like a factory of some sorts. Looking around, he saw a few mechanical bots wandering around. Akira scratched his head, wondering where he had ended up.

Suddenly, Akira heard a strange noise coming from behind him again. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a beam of strange energy rushing at him, coming from an unknown source.

Akira ran, the energy beam in hot pursuit.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"What the heck?"

"Quick Man's stage in Megaman 2. I really hated that stage…"

**(The Arena) **

Liquidator looked down and saw another bomb by his feet. The water-dog quickly stepped on it, extinguishing the fuse. Wile E. Coyote, the bomb's owner, shook in anger, seeing another perfectly good bomb get nullified.

"As you can see, the Liquidator is also completely fireproof!" Liquidator said in his usual TV salesman voice. "Call right now and receive a beating for your stupid idea absolutely free!"

Deciding to try physical attacks, Wile E pulled out a giant sledgehammer and ran at Liquidator, hoping to do some damage. Pulling his hammer into the air, Wile E swung it down, spiking Liquidator into the canvas.

Wile E pulled his hammer up to see what had happened and saw a puddle where the water-dog had previously been standing. Thinking he had actually knocked Liquidator out, Wile E bent over to pick up the villain and throw him from the arena.

A watery fist shot out of the puddle, catching the brown coyote in the chin. Wile E was launched upwards and landed on his back. Looking at his opponent, he saw Liquidator rise from the puddle, taking full shape again.

Wile E angrily held up a sign that read 'Cheap shot! Cheap shot!'.

"Are you having trouble talking?" Liquidator asked. "Then allow Dr. Liquidator to cure you by mercilessly attacking your throat!"

Wile E quickly took to the air with his jetpack and flew around. He pulled out a stick of dynamite (a genius' best friend) and prepared to throw it down, unknowing of a small, dark cloud that started forming above him.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot down from the cloud and struck Wile E's jetpack, instantly destroying it. Wile E fell back down to the canvas, where he was easy pickings for Liquidator to dump over the ropes.

Liquidator turned and saw the other four fighters left in the arena. Mika was starting to look a little tired, but was otherwise ready for the next wave of fighters. Lucky had a few cuts and bruises, not to mention his jacket had a few burns from his fight with Ryo. Peach straightened her crown and smoothed out her dress again, then everyone noticed that her dress had a couple of rips. Kojiroh, one of the freshest fighters, looked almost untouched, and readied her sword for the next wave of fighters.

As Master Hand and Crazy Hand started laughing again, everyone knew that the arena was about to change and the next fighter was about to enter.

**(Looney Toon Node) **

Ralph Wolf smacked his lips a couple of times as he approached the box attached to the tree where he would check in. He saw a white sheepdog with red hair over his eyes already checking in.

The sheepdog turned and saw Ralph coming over. "Morning, Ralph."

"Morning, Sam." Ralph said with a smile as he checked in.

After checking in, the two friends went to their respective workstations at the sheep field: Sam at the edge of the cliff overlooking the field and Ralph at the bottom of the cliff.

Ralph waited patiently for nine to arrive. Looking at his watch, he counted down the seconds until it struck nine o'clock. At the same time, the whistle on top of the tree box went off, signaling that work had started.

Ralph was about to start work and try and steal a sheep when a portal open above him, dropping a newly-eliminated Wile E. Coyote on his head.

The two stood up and looked at each other. Once they saw each other, they ended up doing a double-take, seeing that they looked almost exactly alike.

After a few seconds, they both decided that they were staring into a mirror and walked off in separate directions, Ralph going out to start work.

**(Street Fighter Locker Room) **

"Man! Mika's still in the ring!" Ken said in shock.

"She's full of surprises, it seems." Dhalsim nodded.

Rolento, in the meantime, looked around the locker room and scratched his head.

"What's the matter, Rolento?" Karin asked.

"I left a string of my grenades on this table here, but now I can't seem to find them."

"I wonder where they went."

Rolento shrugged. "I don't know. They were here when comrade Sodom came here with the drinks."

**RESULTS**

RAINBOW MIKA (SFA3)

PEACH TOADSTOOL (SSB)

LIQUIDATOR (DWD)

LUCKY GLAUBER (KOF)

KOJIROH SANADA (LB)

**(ELIMINATED)**

KING (KOF)

WILE E. COYOTE (LT)

JOHNNY MAXIMUM (WH)

WILLIAM GUILE (SFA3)

AKIRA YUKI (VF)

HON-FU (FF)

RYO SAKAZAKI (KOF)

GAMBIT (MC)

KIM KAPWHAN (KOF)

NEINHALT SEIGER (SS)

ROY (SSB)

FRED MAXIMILLION (S3)

M. BISON (SFA3)

KUMA (T5)

FUTCH (S3)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**The Match Without a Title" **

GADGET Z (S3) and MUSAFAR (GF)

_**land on **_

GANNONDORF (SSB) and JOKER (KE)

Eliminations: Mika, Peach, Liquidator, Lucky and Kojiroh, 2; King, Wile E, J. Maxx, Guile and Akira, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: King (7), R. Mika (6), Bruce Irvin (6), Heavy D! (5), Chang Koehan (5), Jubei Yagyu (4)

**About Darn Time:** With Kojiroh surviving the round, Last Blade now has their first two eliminations.

**Record-Breaking:** This round had a few records broken. King broke Bruce's record for eliminations, R. Mika took only three sections to get to six eliminations, and Peach got more than three eliminations, making her the current SSB MVP.


	22. Section Ten

**(The Arena) **

The five fighters in the arena watched as Master Hand and Crazy Hand started changing the arena again. After a few seconds, they noticed that the black energy streaks on the canvas vanished from sight.

Soon, the two finished altering the arena. Mika looked around and scratched her head as she looked at the square arena with ropes around the edges.

"But…The arena's the same as Section One." She said aloud.

Suddenly, Master Hand pointed at Crazy Hand accusingly and flew at him, barreling into the crazier glove with full force. The two gloves, in a fighting ball, fell through the elimination vortex.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

SSBFreak and Unknown1 looked at the monitor, slack-jawed, as they watched the hands land directly on top of Crono in Crono Trigger.

"What the heck just happened?" SSBFreak asked.

"I think they just did that as an excuse to get out of here." Unknown1 replied. "I honestly think they ran out of ideas for arena alterations."

"You think we should go along with it?"

"Why not?" Unknown1 shrugged as he turned on his mike. "Well, folks, with the Hands gone from the arena, it looks like we're stuck with this arena alteration for the rest of the tournament."

**(The Arena) **

The five fighters looked at each other, shrugged and resumed waiting for the next wave of fighters.

"**STEVE FOX!" (T5) **

The British boxer came out from behind the curtain and waved to the crowd as he walked down the ramp to the ring. It was a real pity that Heavy D! was no longer in the arena, he lamented, as he had been hoping for a good challenge when he hit the arena.

Steve tried stepping into the arena, but tripped over the ropes and landed on his stomach.

Lucky sighed and beaned him with a basketball.

"**BELLE!" (S3) **

The young mechanic almost didn't hear the loud cheer the audience was giving her. Instead, she was too busy talking to herself.

"I can't BELIEVE it!" Belle said to herself. "Gadget Z malfunctioned as soon as he got into the arena and attacked Hugo! Now Hugo will think I'm a horrible mechanic and get mad at me and refuse to go out with me!"

As Belle continued her rant, she unknowingly stepped into the ring and walked right through the wave of the six fighters in the arena and continued walking. Lucky looked at Mika and spun his index finger around his ear.

"Now if I'm to make up for that, I have to eliminate everyone in the arena and show Hugo that I'm strong enough to-"

"Hey!" Kojiroh shouted.

Belle snapped out of her daze and looked around, finding herself on the other side of the arena. She turned around and saw the six fighters looking at her strangely. Belle blushed furiously as she grabbed her hammer and charged.

"**RASPUTIN!" (WH) **

As 'All You Need is Love' came from the speakers, Rasputin came out from behind the curtain.

"Now, I know this is against my policy, but if I'm to help Eiji, I need to get information out of Mezu when he enters the arena." Rasputin said to himself. "I can only hope I can stay in the arena until then."

The first thing Rasputin did when he got into the arena was lash out a lightning orb at Liquidator.

Imagine everyone's surprise when Liquidator jerked back in pain, covered in electricity.

Peach quickly looked at Rasputin. "Alright! You found out how to defeat him!"

"**BENIMARU NIKAIDO!" (KOF) **

His hair let down, Benimaru came out to a loud cheer (and about a million screams from the fangirls). He quickly ran his fingers through his hair, surging it with electricity, making his hair stand on end.

"Well, I guess it's time to make my fans proud." Benimaru said with a smirk as he ran into the arena.

Liquidator, seeing Benimaru come in, looked back and forth between him and Rasputin and gulped.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Sodom ran down the hallway as he tucked Rolento's grenades into his pocket.

"I need to find Lilly Kane before her brother enters the arena!" Sodom said in between breaths, although he never stopped running. "But he enters in only a few sections! I'm running out of time!"

Despite what some people thought of him, Sodom was no idiot. After hearing Balrog and Hopper say that they were targeting Lilly Kane, he knew that they would only go after her once Billy Kane had entered the arena, meaning he wouldn't interfere with the kidnapping. If Sodom was to have any chance of preventing Lilly from getting kidnapped, he had to figure out where in the bleachers her seat was.

So far, Sodom had gone into two sections of the bleachers and did a quick scan of each area, coming up with nothing both times.

Sodom was about to turn a corner and continue running when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Quickly coming to a halt, Sodom watched in shock as a burst of green flame erupted from around the corner and shot right where he would have been if he hadn't stopped running.

"Sh-Show yourself!" Sodom ordered.

"Very well." Ash Crimson stepped into view. "From you talking to yourself just now, I gather that you're trying to stop this plot of Bison's as well."

Sodom looked around for an exit. He really didn't want to fight, as that would delay him a good while. "Look, can't you just let me go on?"

"No can do." Ash said, igniting his hand. "You are not to interfere, and I will see to it personally that I redeem myself for the past two losses by defeating you and preventing you from continuing."

Sodom nervously pulled his Sai out and prepared for a fight. He needed to finish this quickly if he was to continue his search.

**(The Arena) **

"**T. HAWK!" (SFA3) **

The huge Native American came out to a decent amount of cheering. Looking down into the arena, T. Hawk saw Mika still in the arena and decided to go down and help her out.

That is, until he heard the theme music Shadow and co. had chosen for him. A strange, fast-paced tune instantly started playing.

"_Out West in Gopher Gulch lived the Indian tribe" _

"_Then come the pioneers and pushed them aside" _

"_All Indians leave but two. They're bound to fight" _

"_What can two Indians do?" _

"_!"_

T. Hawk froze and looked up at the Sound Booth, where Shadow, Astaroth and Aila were all doubled over in laughter once again.

"_Go, Go, Gophers! Watch'em Go, Go, Go!" _

"_Go, Go, Gophers! Watch'em Go, Go, Go!"_

T. Hawk sighed and climbed into the arena, stepping over Benimaru as he made his way over to help Mika.

Mika saw him coming over and knocked Belle away. "How's it going, T. Hawk?"

"Not too good now that I hear what those guys in the Sound Booth gave me for a theme song." T. Hawk replied.

Liquidator dodged another Lightning Orb from Rasputin, but didn't see Benimaru sneaking up behind him until it was too late.

About two seconds later and Liquidator was standing up, even more electricity surging through his body. This was just perfect, he thought, now that these guys knew his weakness, he was actually vulnerable to harm. Now all he needed was a third electric fighter in the fray.

"**PIKACHU!" (SSB) **

Liquidator slapped himself in the forehead.

Coming out to a loud cheer (and the Pokemon theme song), Pikachu merrily scurried down to the arena.

"PIKA!" The rat Pokemon shouted gleefully as he jumped into the arena and landed a headbutt into Liquidator's side, surging him with even more electricity.

Everyone quickly stood aside as Rasputin, Benimaru and Pikachu threw every electric attack know to man at the Liquidator. Sure, the water-dog was getting a few hits in, but it didn't look very promising and his chances of surving the next section went down a good amount.

"**MIZUKI!" (SS) **

The leading villain of the Samurai Showdown node smirked evilly and looked at her hands as she wiggled her intensely sharp fingernails up and down to test them. Satisfied, Mizuki continued to the arena.

Leaping in, Mizuki let out a psychotic scream and threw herself at Steve Fox, attempting to slice him to ribbons.

Steve saw Mizuki coming at him and frantically lashed his fist out, nailing the villainess with a hard left hook, knocking her to the ground.

Mizuki slowly got up and wiped the blood from her mouth. "You'll pay for that, young one." She hissed.

Steve gulped and ran with Mizuki hot on his heels.

"**SILVER SAMURAI!" (MC) **

The people sitting close to the entrance ramp were promptly blinded.

The Samurai's armour was giving off a bright sheen as he readied his katana. The mutant supervillain charged down the ramp and jumped into the ring.

His first target was Kojiroh Sanada. That girl had proven herself in the last section and the Silver Samurai was looking for a worthy opponent.

Kojiroh saw the Samurai coming over and smirked. "I have heard of you." She said. "You have been known as a deadly samurai. I take it you wish to challenge me?"

The Samurai smirked himself. "You are quite right."

Kojiroh nodded. "Very well. Don't expect me to hold back."

"I don't expect you to."

**(Dome; Gym Room) **

The gym was currently empty, and it had been since Eiji's fight with Gozu and Mezu. Sure, people had come in to train, but after they saw the condition of the gym, they had second thoughts and turned around.

Billy Kane wasn't one of those people.

The elder Kane sibling walked into the gym, but stopped short when he saw the holes in the walls and floor. He looked around in confusion.

"What the heck could cause such a wreckage?" Billy asked aloud. He saw that the punching bag hanging from the ceiling, his main reason for coming to the gym, was still intact, so he shrugged and walked over to it to start training from when he entered in the next couple sections.

Billy struck the punching bag a few times with his staff. The British fighter didn't know how good his chances were. Sure, he was entering a good bit into the tournament, but he could be fighting against the likes of Kyo Kusanagi or Jin Kazama for all he knew.

Just as he struck the bag the seventh time, he froze. Having spent years as Geese Howard's bodyguard, Billy had been able to hear footsteps amazingly easily. Turning around, Billy saw Sabretooth passing by the gym.

Sabretooth, on the other hand, had advanced senses, and heard the sound of Billy's shoes squeaking against the gym floor as he turned. Sabretooth looked into the gym and saw Billy staring at him.

Almost instantly, a thousand thoughts went through Sabretooth's head. Lilly Kane, Billy's sister, was one of the last targets on the list, and Billy had been known to be extremely overprotective. Sabretooth quickly became afraid due to the fact that he wasn't even invited to the tournament, and yet Billy had spotted him wandering the dome. Thinking Billy would get suspicious, Sabretooth quickly decided to get rid of Billy and then he would have no problem nabbing his sister.

Sabretooth roared and charged into the gym, straight at Billy.

Billy raised his staff in defense as Sabretooth clawed at it. "What the freaking heck?"

**(The Arena) **

"**KAZUMA!" (GF) **

By now, people were unsure of how to react to the Galaxy Fight gang. They had imagined that only one or two of them, if any, would get an elimination. And yet Musafar and G. Done were now sitting in the Eliminated Seating with one elimination credited to each of them. People questioned around, wondering if Kazuma could do any better.

The Galaxy Fight ninja ran down to the arena and jumped in, hoping to match Musafar and G. Done and get an elimination.

The instant Kazuma hit the arena, a stray lightning bolt (who it had come from was anyone's guess) struck him in the back.

Kazuma slowly got up. Maybe this would be more difficult than he thought…

"**DUCK KING!" (FF) **

"Yeah, man!" Duck shouted to the crowd as 'Disco Duck' came through the speakers (as if you were expecting something else). The audience instantly started cheering.

Duck smirked as he danced his way down to the arena. Now that he had been invited to the new KOF tournament, he had some new fans, and BOY did it feel good!

"Heya, Benimaru!" Duck greeted as he jumped into the arena with P-Chan, his favourite baby duckling, following behind him. "Still wearing that tacky leopard print top, eh?"

Benimaru blasted Duck with a bolt of lightning and quickly went back to pounding Liquidator with electricity.

Duck stood up and shook his head. It was then that he noticed the spotlights shining on the entrance curtain.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**TEN**!"

"**STORMTROOPER!" (Star Wars) **

Everyone in the arena suddenly stopped what they were doing and looked at the entrance curtain. Even the three electric fighters pounding Liquidator stopped. The water-dog didn't even take advantage of the situation and instead looked at the entrance curtain himself.

Indeed, a lone Stormtrooper stood outside the entrance curtain, laser rifle ready to take on the arena. The arena stood in silence for about three seconds.

Then everyone burst out laughing.

The Stormtrooper fumed. "You'll all pay for that!" He shouted as he ran down to the arena. "I'll take anyone on!"

**(Death Star) **

Darth Vader watched the monitor intently. It was time to see if it was a good idea sending a lone and single Stormtrooper into the tournament.

Only time would tell.

**(The Arena) **

"**PEGGI!" (S3) **

"**PEGGI'S WEAPONS ARE PHAT!" **

Belle looked up at the entrance curtain and indeed saw the giant lizardman standing outside the curtain, a huge hammer slung over his shoulder.

Anyone not familiar with Suikoden watched in shock as Peggi limped down to the arena. It took him about four times longer than anyone else, but Peggi managed to get to the arena and climb in.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

Unknown1 looked at SSBFreak. "Are you sure it was a good idea to invite someone with an injury to fight?"

"Just watch."

**(The Arena) **

Kazuma, seeing an easy elimination, ran at Peggi.

Peggi saw him coming a mile away and swung his hammer. His timing was perfect, as Kazuma was sent flying to the other side of the arena.

**(Suikoden Locker Room) **

"I don't know about this, guys." Cecile shook her head. "Peggi's got an injury and who knows how long he'll actually be able to last. He could get seriously hurt and make his injury that much worse."

"Hey, maybe he'll surprise us." Rico shrugged.

"There's always the hope." Juan yawned from his spot on the floor, not really interested.

**(Dome; Security Sector) **

Electro screamed as he flew down another hallway with all five of the security leaders chasing after him. Master Chief was in the lead, followed closely by Joanna Dark and Psymon. Knuckles and Samurai Goroh were bringing up the rear, but still running pretty fast.

The five had been chasing Electro and even Psymon had to admit that this was getting pretty old. They needed to stop Electro quickly if they were to get back to their job and start looking for Mel Masters, but they currently had no way to do that.

A light suddenly went on inside Joanna's head. Pulling out a Proximity Mine, the special agent hurled it down the hallway, causing it to land directly in Electro's path.

The green-clad supervillain unknowingly stepped right on the Proximity Mine, causing it to explode. Electro was launched ahead several more feet until landing on his stomach.

Electro quickly looked back and saw the five Security Leaders approaching him. He saw Knuckles push his way to the front.

"Okay, pal! We know you're in cohorts with whoever took Masters' kid, so spill it!" Knuckles demanded. "What do you know?"

Electro quickly jumped to his feet and looked down at the red echidna. "If you can defeat me all by your lonesome, maybe I'll tell." He said with a smirk.

Knuckles quickly put up his fists. It wasn't a guarantee, but at least it was something. "You got it, buster!" He said. "Let's rock!"

**(The Arena) **

"**MEZU!" (KE) **

In the ring, Rasputin's ears instantly perked up at the mention of Mezu's name. He quickly looked at the others helping him electrocute Liquidator. "I apologize, but I have a more important engagement to attend."

Benimaru nodded. "Quite alright. I'm sure the little guy and I can clean up here."

"Pika!"

Rasputin quickly went over to Mezu, whom had just jumped into the arena. "Excuse me?"

"Yes?" Mezu asked.

"I am a friend of Eiji Kisaragi."

Mezu instantly slashed at Rasputin. "Just for that, you die." He said. "It wasn't enough that that 80's reject defeated Gozu and I, but he broke off a piece of each of our gauntlets!" He showed Rasputin his gauntlet, which had a reasonable-sized piece missing from it. "Now they don't look as good!"

Rasputin stared at Mezu with wide eyes. "Don't you have any idea what you two have unleashed?"

Mezu didn't respond. Instead, he sent a wave of water at Rasputin.

Which was promptly frozen.

As the water, now a block of ice, fell to the canvas, Mezu looked at the entrance curtain.

"**KULA DIAMOND!" (KOF) **

Unfortunately, the announcement came too late. With 'Winter Wonderland' blaring through the speakers, Kula had already jumped into the arena. Mezu didn't have time to react, and Kula had quickly frozen him. The blue-haired girl pushed the block of ice containing Mezu away.

"Why, thank you, miss." Rasputin said, looking down at Kula.

In all honesty, Kula hadn't done that to save Rasputin. She was instead looking for people to eliminate so she could make up for K's performance.

Kula opened her mouth to reply to Rasputin when Benimaru cut him off.

"Hey! It's that ice girl from NESTS!"

Kula's eye twitched, memories of NESTS flooding through her in an instant. Being ordered to kill K', Candy sacrificing herself to save her, K9999 backstabbing Foxy (literally)…

Letting out an uncharacteristic scream of fury, Kula threw herself at Benimaru.

"And now, the final fighter in this section…"

"**MR. GAME & WATCH!" (SSB) **

In the Eliminated Seating, Robert once again spat out his drink at Hugo (who still held his umbrella into the air).

There was Game & Watch. He was a 2-dimensional, completely black man with no face and only slightly taller than a Pokemon. The retro gaming giant ran down to the arena, doing his patented two-frame walk.

Strange, black sausages littered the arena as soon as he hit the arena. Pulling a frying pan out of who-knows-where, Game & Watch started flipping his endless supply of sausages at any fighter he could see.

Once he finished, Game & Watch waddled over to Lucky an performed his 'Judgement' attack. Holding a sign above his head, the small, black man struck Luck with a hammer. A '1' appeared on the sign.

"Hey. That tickled." Lucky chuckled.

Game & Watch looked at the canvas, let down that the move wasn't as powerful as he had hoped.


	23. Section Ten Results

**(The Arena) **

If Mezu was worried, he was hiding it extremely well. Ever since he entered the ring, Rasputin hadn't left him alone. The peace-loving hippie was lashing out lightning orbs whenever he could, which was something very out of character for him. Up in the Eliminated Seating, Captain Kidd and Erik looked at each other, confused.

"You must tell me what you know about those elements that were in those gauntlets, my boy!" Rasputin ordered.

"Why should I help that 80's reject?" Mezu asked, clutching his stomach. "I could really care less about what happens to him."

Rasputin's eyes narrowed and shoved a huge fist into Mezu's face. "That, my friend, was the wrong answer."

Meanwhile, the Stormtrooper was repeatedly firing laser bolts from his Imperial Rifle at Duck King, hoping to do some damage to the breakdancer. However, Duck was proving to be as fast on his feet as a Jedi, and skillfully did several dance moves to avoid the blaster shots.

The white-clad soldier fumed. Even that annoying little duck was avoiding the shots, mimicing its master perfectly.

"This guy is starting to get on my nerves." The Stormtrooper muttered.

"**OUTTATHEWAY! OUTTATHEWAY!" **Steve Fox suddenly flew by the Stormtrooper.

The foot soldier jumped back in surprise and accidentally shot the oncoming Mizuki in the leg. The evil woman howled in pain as she grasped her leg.

"You'll pay for that, you fool!" Mizuki roared.

Duck and Stormtrooper stared at Mizuki, then looked at each other.

"Truce?" Duck asked, holding out his hand.

"Truce." The Stormtrooper replied, shaking Duck's hand before they advanced on Mizuki together.

Steve, seeing Mizuki getting distracted, sighed in relief and clutched his knees, trying to catch his breath.

Suddenly, a basketball bounced off the boxer's head, making him stagger back, where T. Hawk spiked him into the ground.

**(Hotel; Lounge) **

Lee Chaolan slowly opened his eyes, feeling a massive headache. He tried reaching to feel his forehead, but quickly realized that he couldn't move his arm. It didn't take him long to realize that he had been tied to one of the lounge chairs.

"Finally. You're awake."

His eyes snapping open fully, Lee found himself staring into the eyes of Heavy D!.

"Okay, man. We know you're in on this kidnapping plot going on." The black boxer said. "So spill it."

"I'll tell you nothing." Lee snarled.

"I kinda figured that." D! sighed before looking at another corner of the Lounge. "Hey, Dan! You having any luck with Anna?"

Lee looked over his shoulder and could see Dan Hibiki and Andy Bogard standing in front of Anna Williams, whom was bound to another chair in a similar fashion as he was.

"Sorry, man." Dan replied. "She's not talking either."

"Well, we'll just have to try harder to get the info we need." Heavy D! looked back at Lee.

Lee smirked. "There's nothing you can do that will make me blab, pal."

D! narrowed his eyes behind his shades and slapped his fist into his palm.

Lee's eyes snapped open. "Okay! I'll talk! I'll talk!" He shouted desperately, not really wanting to go through another beating.

Anna grumbled.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Marth looked at Samus. "What do you think our chances are, here?"

Samus shrugged. "We're not doing too bad thus far. Peach has four eliminations already. That's more than what MARIO got." The futuristic bounty hunter replied. "And now we've got three representatives in the arena."

Marth looked into the arena. "Maybe so, but so far all Pikachu's been doing is pounding that water-dog with electricity. And Game & Watch is losing to that Galaxy Fighter over there."

"Well, let's just keep watching."

The blue haired prince nodded before looking around. "Where IS Mario, anyway? Doesn't he wanna see Luigi fight in the next section?"

"He's at the restaurant."

"But he could be there all day!"

"*sigh* I know."

**(The Arena) **

Mezu lashed out his hand, sending a wave of water in Rasputin's direction. The peace-lover dodged to the side and lashed out another lightning orb, striking the water-ninja's arm. Mezu shrieked and staggered back, which allowed Rasputin to strike the Kizuna Encounter fighter with his large foot.

"Look, friend. I detest violence, so I'll give you one more chance." Rasputin stepped forward. "Please tell me what you know about the elements in the gauntlet so I can help Eiji."

"How many times must I say 'forget it' to get it through that thick skull of yours?" Mezu shouted. "I do NOT want to help the ninja whom embarrassed Gozu and I!"

"Now just a minute-" Rasputin started.

"And furthermore!" Mezu continued. "Why would ANYONE want to help that guy? He hasn't seen any work since 1995!"

Duck was tempted to go over and tell Mezu that Eiji had, in fact, been invited to the latest KOF tournament. However, there was very little he could do as he dodged a blow from Mizuki.

"He's such a loser!" Mezu shouted. "And anyone that would actually WANT to help him is considered just as useless in my book!"

Mezu ended his rant and started breathing heavily. It took him a full six seconds to realize that the whole arena; no, the whole audience as well, had gone deathly silent. All battles had been dropped to stare at Mezu in shock. Mezu then noticed that Rasputin was starting to turn red.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Hayate stared at Mezu in shock, horrified at what his nodal companion had just said. "He's toast." He shook his head.

**(Audience) **

Brian Battler stared, a piece of popcorn still in his hand. He may not have been the smartest person to enter KOF, but he knew never to insult a friend of Eiji Kisaragi like that. He was so shocked that he didn't react when several Monkeys from the Monkey Island node stole his box of popcorn.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Eiji and Julia stared at a monitor, slack-jawed.

"Did he just say what I think he said?" Julia asked.

Eiji nodded. "I believe so."

**(The Arena) **

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT EIJI!" Rasputin roared as Mezu stepped back. "I HAVE SEEN HIM FIGHT IN THE PAST, AND I MUST SAY THAT HE IS FAR BETTER THAN ANYONE FROM YOUR NODE!"

**(Eliminated Seating) **

"Aren't you insulted at that?" Watari asked Hayate.

Hayate shook his head. "He ain't telling anything that isn't true."

**(The Arena) **

Rasputin slammed his fist into Mezu's head for what seemed to be the hundredth time in ten seconds. Another two seconds was all it took for the hippie to toss the blue-clad ninja out of the arena.

Rasputin, seeing his opponent eliminated, smoothed out his robe and ran off.

Mezu landed in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. He was about to sit down and try to recover his strength when a hoofed arm grabbed him.

The blue ninja could do nothing as Rouge-Hog slammed him into the ground.

On the topic of villains that fight using water, let's see how Liquidator's doing.

"ELECTRIGGER!"

*BZZT!*

I thought so.

Liquidator again fell to the canvas, but quickly slid out of the way before Pikachu could piledrive into him.

He may have been made of water, but Liquidator figured that these two were lashing out every electrical attack known to man. The water-dog knew that unless he tried something extremely desperate, he would get eliminated easily.

Turning himself into a puddle, Liquidator slipped away from his two attackers, quickly reformed away from them and lifted his hands into the air.

"Our weatherman, the Liquidator, predicts heavy rain over the weekend!" Liquidator shouted.

Suddenly two geysers of water erupted from the canvas, launching both Benimaru and Pikachu into the air. Benimaru was lucky enough not to fly from the arena, but Pikachu wasn't so lucky. The entire Anime fan section of the audience watched in horror as their favourite Pokemon was sent out of the arena.

They sighed in relief two seconds later when Pikachu performed a Quick Attack, zipping himself back into the arena again.

Benimaru, in the meantime, was continuing the assault on Liquidator, thinking Pikachu had been eliminated.

"PIKA!"

Benimaru paused in mid-attack and looked over his shoulder, where he saw Pikachu pulsating with a strange energy.

The tall-haired man's eyes widened. "Crap!" He said as he dropped Liquidator and ran off, having an idea of what Pikachu was planning on doing.

Liquidator staggered to his feet ad held his head. Looking around, he saw that Benimaru had ceased to attack him, and wondered what the deal was.

"CHU!"

The water-dog snapped to attention just in time for Pikachu, spinning in midair and covered in electricity, torpedoed into his stomach.

Liquidator was surged with electricity for about half a second before getting launched out of the arena. He went so far that he splattered against the forcefield and slowly slid down into the vortex.

Liquidator landed in the jungle. He stood up and quickly froze at the scene that lay before him.

Rouge-Hog, with Mezu's body in his grasp, saw the water-dog come in. Liquidator saw the giant warthog's right hoof become engulfed in electricity and ran.

He got about three feet when an electrified watermelon slammed into his back.

Duck King leapt towards Mizuki and slammed his palm into her face. Mizuki quickly blocked the attack and lashed out with her razor-sharp nails. Duck rolled backwards, avoiding the blow. The black breakdancer leapt out of his roll, springing over Mizuki's head. On his way back down, Duck kicked the evil woman in the back.

Mizuki could have easily retaliated, but Duck's baby duck, P-Chan, landed a surprisingly hard kick against her chin. Mizuki growled and lashed out at the small animal. The back of the evil woman's hand struck the small animal, sending it flying across the arena.

Duck's eyes snapped open. "P-CHAN!" He cried and ran over to his fallen pet's side.

Mizuki let out a very rare sigh of relief, but that stopped when she realized that she had forgotten all about the Stormtrooper. She had realized this all too late, as several laser bolts struck her in the back. Mizuki spun around and glared daggers at the Stormtrooper.

"That was a cheap shot." The Stormtrooper said darkly. "I may work for the Empire, but I never resort to harming the defenseless animals, as they're never a threat to the Empire's reign."

The foot soldier, being the expendable grunt he was, blindly ran at Mizuki. The evil woman lashed out with both handfuls of fingernails, but the Stormtrooper showed a rare case of awareness and dodged to the side before bringing his leg up, smashing it across Mizuki's face.

"No one hurts P-Chan and gets away with it! NO ONE!"

Mizuki turned and saw a very angry Duck King stampeding over with a trail of dust following behind him. An equally-angry P-Chan was by his side.

Mizuki growled as Duck rolled into her stomach and launched himself into a kick, slamming into her chin. How could a pair of ordinary fools like these be beating her so badly?

She didn't have time to think further, as both Duck and the Stormtrooper punched her from either side, Duck in the head and the Stormtrooper in the stomach, finally knocking the wind out of her. Mizuki collapsed to the canvas as her opponents stood over her.

The Stormtrooper and Duck again turned to each other and each held out a fist.

"Evens."

"Odds."

"SHOOT!" They both shouted.

The amount of fingers that came up was seven. Duck smirked as he turned and booted Mizuki out of the arena.

The Stormtrooper grumbled. "The next opponent we take down, I get the elimination."

"Deal."

Mizuki landed in Sonic Adventure. Unfortunately, she landed in the Sky Chase mini-game, and Tails' plane obviously wasn't underneath her to prevent her from falling hundreds of feet down into the ocean.

Lucky Glauber looked around the arena. Somehow, the giant basketball player felt that he was needed outside of the arena helping D!.

"Well, I got four eliminations." Lucky said. "That should be good."

Of course, the biggest problem Lucky was having was finding someone to eliminate him. Mika was busy with Peach, Duck and the Stormtrooper were now doing battle with Benimaru and Pikachu, and Kula was running into the fray as well. T. Hawk was doing battle with Steve Fox as Kojiroh Sanada was dueling with the Silver Samurai. Peggi and Belle were currently having a nodal alliance and were fighting Rasputin together.

Lucky quickly saw the fighting pair of Kazuma and Mr. Game & Watch. Coming to a decision, Lucky ran over. As the giant basketball player ran over, Game & Watch knocked Kazuma away.

"Hey…Uh…2-dimensional guy…Thing." Lucky said

Game & Watch turned his head (making it look like he vanished) and looked up at Lucky.

"Sorry for being blunt, man." Lucky said. "But I sorta need you to eliminate me."

The black, flat creature held up a sign with a big, black question mark on it.

"Long story." Lucky replied. "Look. I'll send out an attack and you avoid it. Then you throw me out of the arena."

Not one to turn down an easy elimination, Game & Watch nodded.

Lucky nodded and raised his hand, catching another basketball. "Get ready, man!"

Performing a weak Death Bound, Lucky bounced the basketball off the ground. However, Game & Watch couldn't move out of the way in time and received a blow to the face. Being an extreme lightweight, Game & Watch was sent into the air, just barely falling over the ropes.

Lucky slapped himself in the forehead.

Game & Watch landed in Unreal Championship. Seeing the severe carnage going on, the 2-D creature simply turned. Being 2-dimensional, Game & Watch blended into the background as all of the gun-toting fighters ran right past him.

**(Dome; Gym Room) **

Billy Kane smashed his fighting staff over Sabretooth's head as the giant mutant lashed out with his claws. The British fighter leapt back as Sabretooth slowly got to his feet.

Sabretooth growled. "You'll pay for that with your life!" He shouted.

"Hey! YOU were the one to start the freaking fight!" Billy replied, holding up his staff to block Sabretooth's following attack. "I'm just trying to keep myself from getting killed here!"

The fur-coated mutant crouched low and charged, lashing out with his claws. Billy saw this coming ad leapt into the air, arcing himself over Sabretooth as he passed underneath.

As Billy landed gracefully on his feet, Sabretooth screeched to a halt, just barely managing to prevent himself from going into the wall. Sabretooth spun around and snarled.

"This punk is almost as bad as Logan." Sabretooth muttered to himself. "If I'm gonna have any chance at taking him down, I need to be fast."

"_Why is this guy so intent on killing me?"_ Billy thought. _"I don't even know the freak!"_

"Berserker Claw!" Sabretooth shouted and lunged at Billy at high speeds.

This time, Billy didn't avoid the blow. He simply pulled his staff back like a bat and swung with all his might, smashing it across Sabretooth's face, negating the attack.

As Sabretooth stepped back, stunned, Billy plunged his staff into the ground and lifted himself into the air, kicking with both his feet. Both kicks landed against Sabretooth's chin, knocking the mutant back even further.

Sabretooth shook off the effects of the attack and charged again, slashing his claws. This time, Billy couldn't dodge the attack in time. He received a couple of tears in his outfit and a few small cuts, but nothing too major.

Billy narrowed his eyes and stepped back a couple of steps. Sabretooth saw the glare in the British fighter's eye and stepped back himself, a little unsure of what Billy was going to do.

"Take this!" Billy shouted, lunging into the air and swinging his staff a couple of times. Sabretooth received every blow and was sent flying back into the wall.

The furry mutant stood up and quickly knew that he was treading on thin ice. Deciding not to risk injury any further, Sabretooth started running for the door.

"Not on my account!" Billy shouted, spinning his staff in his hands.

Sabretooth may have been fast, but he still wasn't faster than Billy's Fire Wheel. Billy launched the spinning, flaming projectile straight into the retreating mutant's back, sending Sabretooth clear out of the gym doors. Sabretooth staggered to his feet and scrambled off, leaving Billy alone in the gym once more.

Billy, seeing his opponent gone, lowered his stance. "What the heck was that about?"

**(The Arena) **

Now that Liquidator was gone from the arena, Benimaru and Pikachu could fight opponents on their own.

Unfortunately, Benimaru had come across a very angry Kula Diamond.

Although Benimaru was a little confused as to why Kula was attacking her own nodal companion like this, he didn't realize that it was because he accidentally brought up bad memories of NESTS in the back of Kula's memory when she had entered the arena.

The blue-haired girl lashed our her hand, firing a stream of ice at Benimaru. The tall-haired man quickly avoided the shot as the part of the canvas he was previously standing on got covered with a layer of ice.

"I don't really wanna do this to my nodal companion, Kula." Benimaru said. "But right now, it doesn't look like I have much choice."

Engulfing his hand in electricity, Benimaru lunged at Kula. Grasping her shoulder, Benimaru started sending electricity into the ice-girl's body.

Kula, although in severe pain from Benimaru's attack, managed to grasp hold of the tall-haired man's arm and activate her freezing powers.

Benimaru was so busy doing his attack that he didn't really notice himself starting to feet extremely cold.

Five seconds later and Benimaru's electric attack stopped, but it wasn't because he stopped willingly. It was because he was now inside a block of ice.

It took Kula a good amount of her energy, but she managed to lift the block of ice over her head and toss it from the arena.

Benimaru landed in Mario Brothers 3. Luckily, the Angry Sun managed to thaw him out. Unluckily, said Angry Sun then proceeded to divebomb him.

Meanwhile, Lucky was still trying to find a way to get out of the ring and find D!. Unfortunately, after eliminating Mr. Game & Watch, he was having a hard time finding someone to eliminate him. In some way or another, every fighter was busy.

Suddenly seeing Mika knocking Peach away (where she started a fight with Kazuma), Lucky ran over to the female wrestler.

"Hey, Mika!" He called out.

Mika turned and saw Lucky coming over. "What is it, Lucky?"

"I need to get out of here." Lucky explained. "Could you eliminate me?"

"Are you sure?" Mika asked. "I could probably get eliminated instead."

"That's just the thing." Lucky replied. "Look, Mika. There's no denying that you're the stronger one out of the two of us. I would think that you could wait for a couple more villains to enter. You would probably have a better chance at getting info from them than I could."

Mika paused, then shrugged. "Whatever you want, Lucky. If you want out so badly, sure, I'll eliminate you."

Lucky nodded. "Thanks. Just make it look real."

"No problem."

Lucky advanced on Mika, and the female wrestler grabbed him and threw him over the ropes. Dusting her hands off, Mika ran off again.

Lucky landed on a basketball court. He stood up and looked around, wondering where he had landed.

"Hey, man!"

Lucky turned and saw a black, equally-tall basketball player coming over.

"You up for a round of hoops?" The newcomer asked, dribbling a basketball.

Lucky shrugged. "Sure. Who might you be, man?"

"The name's Lucky Glauber."

Lucky's eyes snapped open, then he passed out.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"Okay. What the heck is that supposed to be?"

"Street Hoops. That's what Lucky was originally in before SNK brought him into KOF."

"Yeah? Well, how many members of the crowd are gonna know THAT?"

**(The Arena) **

Peach smashed her frying pan against Kazuma's head, then kicked him in the chin. The Galaxy Fighter recoiled, but quickly shook his head to regain his senses. He lunged at Peach and thrust his fist out, hoping to knock the princess away from him long enough to pick her up and throw her from the arena.

The Mushroom princess, however, saw the attack coming and gracefully swerved to the side, allowing Kazuma to pass by her. After Kazuma was safely past her, Peach kicked him in the behind, knocking him to the ground.

Kazuma slowly got to his feet, ignoring the three following vegetables that bounced off his head. Turning around, the ninja stared at Peach, wondering how he was going to remove her from the arena if he was losing the fight so badly.

Deciding to try one last attack, Kazuma put his ninja skills to use and vanished into thin air.

Now, because the Smash Brothers tournament never had any ninjas participate, Peach didn't know what was going to happen. Because of this, she was unprepared for Kazuma to appear behind her and kick her in the back.

While Peach was stunned, Kazuma picked her up and started carrying her over to the ropes, intending to throw her out.

However, Peach managed to wrestle free of Kazuma's grasp and land on her feet. She grabbed Kazuma and angrily threw him out of the arena.

Peach sighed in relief, turned around and ran off to resume her fight with .

Kazuma landed in Kung Fu Chaos, where he was instantly tossed out of a window with a mass amount of stuntmen, falling towards the docks.

Luckily, one of the cast members was standing on the dock, holding a trampoline. Of course, after striking the trampoline, Kazuma bounced into the lake, but the ninja couldn't really blame the sap for trying.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Sodom crossed his arms in front of his face as another green flame wave from Ash Crimson slammed into them. As soon as the flame died down, Sodom dropped his guard and lunged forward with his sai. The red-clad prettyboy smirked and swung his arm again, striking Sodom with a direct hit of green flames.

The American, Japanese wannabe landed on the ground and rolled for a couple of feet. Sodom found that he had been extremely lucky that his jersey hadn't been set on fire, but paid it no mind. Jumping to his feet, Sodom ran at Ash again.

"You must have a death wish." Ash chuckled. "At least you're stupider than that robot. I feel I can actually beat you here."

Ash concentrated and a huge, spiraling beam of green fire rose from the ground and touched the ceiling above his head. Sodom had unfortunately jumped at Ash when the attack started, and flew right into the pillar.

As quickly as it started, the move ended. However, Sodom had received full power of the attack, and was sent back to the ground again.

Sodom quickly got to his feet again and stared at Ash. He was running out of precious time to find Lilly Kane and Ash was really intent on taking him down. He had to finish this fight fast.

As quickly as he could, Sodom ripped out his sai again and charged, slashing at Ash. This time, the prettyboy didn't have time to counter, and received a painful slash to the chest.

Ash staggered back, clutching his chest in pain. He narrowed his eyes at Sodom. "Okay. So you've got some slight skill. That doesn't mean I can't beat you."

"I have to…Take you down…" Sodom breathed, the fight starting to take its toll on his lungs. "You're…Helping…Bison…"

"Of course I am." Ash replied with a cocky smirk. "He asked for my help and I accepted."

Sodom ran at Ash once again and leapt into the air. Ash tried lashing out another wave of fire, but Sodom managed to avoid it in midair and slammed both feet into the white-haired man's face.

As much as Ash hated to admit it, this guy was pretty skilled. Knowing that he would fall to this wannabe eventually, Ash decided to put his on mouth to use. He grabbed Sodom and tossed him aside, making him land on his back.

"My real intent wasn't on beating you, you know." Ash said with a triumphant smirk. "I was more focused on stalling you for a good while, and seeing as how we've been fighting for a good fifteen minutes here, I'd say that you're even shorter on time to find miss Kane before Bison's men get to her first."

Noticing Sodom's shocked eyes through the mask, Ash realized that his verbal plan was working. He saluted Sodom. "I'll be taking my leave now. Consider yourself lucky that I don't have time to kill you."

Ash turned around and walked away casually, rounded a corner and left Sodom alone in the hallway.

Realizing that he now had fifteen less minutes to find Lily, Sodom staggered to his feet and ran down the hallway, ignoring the pain in his legs.

"I must…Find…Lilly Kane…" Sodom panted as he ran. "I…Must…Find her…"

Meanwhile, Ash had pressed himself up against the wall and waited for Sodom to vanish from sight. As soon as the Japanese wannabe was gone, Ash grabbed his cell-phone and dialed a number. He pressed the phone against his ear and waited for someone to pick up on the other end.

"Hello, Bison?" Ash asked. "Some meddler from your node is onto us. I think you'll need to 'influence' some more fighters into helping us."

**(Hotel; Lounge) **

"That's all I know! I swear!" Lee Chaolan insisted.

For the past while, Lee had blabbed every part of the plan to Heavy D!, not really looking forward to another beating.

"You're a total wuss, Chaolan!" Anna Williams growled. "I can't believe that you actually told them EVERYTHING!"

"It's not my fault I value my face!" Lee insisted.

"Well, it's all starting to make a little sense, now." Reed rubbed his chin.

"Yeah, but we don't know what the whole point of it is." Vivian shrugged. "How are we going to find out?"

"Find what out?"

Everyone looked at the entrance to the lounge and saw a very angry Guile and J. Maxx coming in.

"Lucky told me that my daughter is in extreme danger." Guile said. "What the heck is going on?"

Dan sighed. "We just found out that your daughter, among a few other targets, is going to be used as some sort of energy source because they have some sort of connection with some of the fighters in the tournament."

"Who would the other connections be?" Guile asked, coming into the room further.

"Johnny Maximum, Chris Lightfellow, King, Billy Kane, that silent juggler guy Toppo and your good ol' brother-in-law." Dan replied, counting on his fingers.

"So what's the big significance?" Guile asked.

"Apparently, there's this main target that's going to be powered by the youthful energy sources given off by the other targets." Asuka Kazama added. "This main target will then be transferred into Bison's latest machine and be turned into a loyal slave. If this is successful, this slave will become the most powerful fighter in existence, giving Bison an incredible edge."

Guile was silent through this explanation, his body shaking. Veins were bulging and his eyes were narrowing, showing that he was getting extremely angry.

"He's actually using my DAUGHTER for a plan like this?" Guile shouted. "When I get my hands on him-"

Somehow knowing what was going to come, Samus quickly placed his hands over Ryoko's ears.

From Ryoko's point of view, she saw Guile rapidly shouting several things in a row, but she couldn't hear any part of it (which, she figured, was probably a good thing). After a little bit, Guile stopped his rant and Samus uncovered Ryoko's ears.

"So what do we do?" Cody asked. "We have no idea where these guys are hiding out."

"Actually, I remember Electro saying a while back that their hideout room is on the 57th floor." Bridget piped up. "When he hired me, he had given me the info."

"Well, what're we waiting for?" Chonrei asked. "Let's go!"

"Attention, please." Unknown1's voice came from the speakers. "Will Dan Hibiki and Ryoko please report to the Ready Room and prepare to enter the arena?"

Ryoko sighed. "Well, it looks like I gotta get going."

"Yeah." Dan added. "So do I."

"Well, while you're in the arena, I'll drop by the Eliminated Seating one more time and grab a few more allies." D! added. "Everyone else? Some wait in the lobby of the hotel while the other go to the Recovery Room and wait for Lucky to come out."

As everyone else agreed, Heavy D!, Dan and Ryoko left the lounge.

**(The Arena) **

"PEGGI SMASH!"

A huge hammer slammed into the canvas where Rasputin had previously been standing. Luckily, the peace-lover had seen the attack coming and avoided the blow.

Belle pulled out her own hammer, although it wasn't nearly as big as Peggi's. "Come on, Peggi! Let's take him out!"

"SURE THING, BELLE!" Peggi screamed. "MY HAMMER WILL THWART ALL OPPONENTS!"

Rasputin quickly lashed out his hand, firing another lightning orb at the duo. Peggi held out his huge, iron hammer in front of Belle, blocking the electric projectile.

"My! You're a stubborn fellow, aren't you?" Rasputin asked.

"YES, I AM!" Peggi shouted. "IN FACT, I SHALL NOW SMITE YOU WITH MY ULTIMATE ATTACK!"

Peggi crouched low and struck a stance. "SUPER…SPINNING…" His hammer started glowing with a strange, yellow energy. "…CYCLONE ALPHA!"

The loud lizardman put his attack into effect and started spinning rapidly on one foot, giant hammer outstretched. However, while his intended target was Rasputin, Peggi started spinning wildly out of control, actually going away from the peace-lover. Instead, the hammer-wielding reptile spun right towards the duel between Kojiroh and the Silver Samurai.

Peggi struck both swordfighters with his hammer, knocking them both away. The Silver Samurai was sent flying towards the alliance between Duck and the Stormtrooper. Kojiroh, on the other hand, went flying straight out of the arena.

Peggi's attack finally stopped. The lizardman wobbled on one foot for a couple of seconds and collapsed to his side.

Kojiroh landed in Samurai Showdown 4, where she broke up a very-intense fight between Kazuki and Sogetsu.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"And THAT is why Peggi isn't a fighting member in Suikoden 3." SSBFreak spoke into his mic.

"Why's that?" Unknown1 asked.

"Because that injury of his makes him extremely inaccurate."

**(The Arena) **

With Peggi gone, Belle was having a real rough time with Rasputin. The young mechanic swung her hammer at the hippie, hoping to do some damage. Unfortunately for her, Rasputin was more agile than he looked, and avoided the blow.

Rasputin slammed a huge palm into Belle's head, knocking her back a few feet. He really hated himself for attacking a girl less than half his age, but she, along with the giant lizard now laying on his side in the middle of the arena, had attacked him first.

Knowing that he'd have to finish this, Rasputin looked at Belle. "I'm terribly sorry about this, miss." He apologized.

A couple of quick kits with his feet was all it took to send Belle packing.

Belle landed in Dr. Mario. Several multi-coloured pills promptly crushed her.

Or course, with Kojiroh gone, Silver Samurai was without an opponent. Unfortunately for him, Duck King and the Stormtrooper were making up for that in spades.

The Silver Samurai swung his sword at Duck, who bent over limbo-style as the blade of steel went over his head. The Samurai's blade continued slicing through the air, until it stopped suddenly when the Stortrooper shot at it, causing a resistance. The Stormtrooper's white-clad leg slammed into the Samurai's helmet, but it didn't hurt a lot.

A spinning roll to the stomach from Duck King, however, did. The Samurai toppled.

The Stormtrooper fired several more shots at the Samurai while he was on the ground, but they all reflected off the evil mutant's armour and shot around the arena (Steve Fox was among one of the unlucky fighters, receiving a few sharp shots to the back).

The Samurai jumped to his feet and growled. "You pests are starting to annoy me." He said.

Duck chuckled. "Bring it, shine-boy!"

The response Duck got was the Silver Samurai raising his sword into the air. Suddenly, a blue energy bolt struck his sword, coating it in a frosty layer of strange energy.

"Take this!" The Samurai shouted and lashed out his sword, sending a frozen ninja star in Duck's direction.

The breakdancer froze in shock as the ninja star shot at him, but luckily, the Stormtrooper fired a couple more shots, melting the projectile in midair.

Duck wiped his brow. "Hey. Thanks, man."

The Stormtrooper nodded. "Let's get him."

From that point on, the Silver Samurai couldn't get a shot in. The two new allies were dishing out whatever they could, and Duck managed to bring him down with a well-placed kick to the head. The Samurai fell to the ground and didn't get back up.

Duck looked at the Stormtrooper. "Your turn, man."

The foot soldier again nodded. "Thanks." He said as he picked up the Samurai and dumped him over the ropes.

The Silver Samurai landed in Captain Commando. The good Captain and his team saw him, thought he was an enemy and dove in for the attack.

Let's just say that they'll never be making that mistake again.

Meanwhile, Mika and Peach were still dueling. The female wrestler tried a backhanded attack, but Peach once again pulled out Toad and countered the attack. As soon as Mika's hand struck the living fungus, several spores shot into her face, knocking her into the air.

Peach, seeing her counter work, lunged into the air with a parasol and jabbed it into the airborne Mika's stomach.

Mika landed on her side while the Mushroom princess landed gracefully on her feet. The female wrestler propped herself up onto her arms and looked at Peach.

"You're REALLY wanting to eliminate me, aren't you?" Mika asked as she got to her feet.

Peach nodded. "My node needs the eliminations and so far I've got the most."

Mika nodded. "Well, don't expect to see me let up."

Mika was about the advance on Peach when they both heard Steve Fox scream in pain. Looking in the direction of the scream, they saw T. Hawk standing over Steve, whom was laying on his back, having leg spasms.

"What the heck happened, T. Hawk?" Mika asked.

"I'm not sure." T. Hawk scratched his head. "I pointed out that the Stormtrooper had shot him and he collapsed."

"Well, you'd better put the sap out of his misery and eliminate him."

T. Hawk nodded, grabbed Steve and pitched him out of the arena.

Now, Steve wasn't conscious when he was eliminated, but if he was, he would have seen that he had landed in the node of Sonic R. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy (whom was actually driving a car) tripped over his body and landed off the track, allowing Tails Doll to win (unfortunately).

**(Dome; Security Sector) **

Speaking of Knuckles, the present Knuckles was still fighting against Electro. The small, red echidna glided about three feet in the air before latching himself onto the wall beside Electro. Leaping of the wall, Knuckles spun down and drove himself into Electro's back.

Knuckles knew that if the Security Force was to get answers out of Electro, he had to beat him. So far, the others could see that Knuckles was winning.

However, as soon as Knuckles had spun into his back, Electro thought quickly and engulfed himself in electricity, sending a huge jolt of pan through the small echidna's body. Once Electro stopped his attack, Knuckles was sent flying back into the wall.

Knuckles peeled himself from the wall and landed on his side. Slowly getting up, he narrowed his eyes at Electro. "You wanna fight, cheap, eh?" Knuckles shouted. "Alright! It's on!"

Knuckles ran at Electro and drove his spiked fist into the supervillain's stomach. Electro hunched over in pain, but quickly recovered, picked up Knuckles and threw him away.

The small echidna landed on his back and slid for about two feet before leaping to his feet.

Electro smirked, seeing that he was gaining the upper hand. "You had enough, echidna?"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes. Electro backed up a bit, seeing the echidna start to glow yellow.

"Maximum Heat Knuckles Attack!" Knuckles screamed.

In a high-moving blur of red, Knuckles charged. Had anyone been able to see Knuckles clearly, they would have seen both his fists punching the air about five times a second.

Knuckles slammed into Electro and delivered more than fifty blows in ten seconds without giving the green-clad man any time to counter. After Knuckles delivered the final blow, Electro was sent flying backwards about ten feet, landing on his back. Knuckles sighed in relief and lowered his guard.

"Well, it looks like our friend here is down for the count at last." Master Chief said as he approached.

Knuckles nodded. "Let's see what he knows."

Suddenly, the five heard a laugh coming from Electro. Looking at him, they saw Electro floating in the air, completely engulfed in electricity.

"But…How?" Knuckles stammered. "That was my most powerful attack without the help from the Chaos Emeralds!"

"You punks thought I could be defeated that easily?" Electro laughed. "Allow me to show you how wrong you are!"

Electro raised higher into the air, did an arial backflip and flew straight at Knuckles with top speed.

The electric supervillain slammed into Knuckles body, surging him with more electricity than before.

Once the attack stopped, Knuckles was sent flying backwards down the hallway, heading straight towards a door leading to the crowd. The others watched in shock as Knuckles flew through the door.

Knuckles shot through the door and flew straight past the crowd, whom were surprised to see the echidna burst in. Knuckles shot past the lowest seats in the stands and ended up falling downwards directly into the elimination vortex.

Knuckles had landed Ultimate Spider-Man, where he spent the next ten minutes taking his aggression out on a younger-looking Electro.

Samurai Goroh drew his sword and pointed it at Electro, only to see that he was gone, having taken his chance to escape while the other security officers were watching Knuckles go down the hallway.

The overweight swordsman lowered his head. "He got away again."

**(The Arena) **

"What the heck was that about?" Mika asked, looking at where Knuckles had vanished.

"Whatever it was, that looked like Knuckles the Echidna that vanished through the portal." Peach pointed out.

Mika shrugged. "Well, it's over. We may as well go back to our fight."

Peach nodded and did a backhanded slap across Mika's face. Mika staggered back, but Peach continued with another slap across the other side of the face.

The female wrestler shook her head to regain her senses and looked at Peach, only to see the princess flying at her, hip-first. Mika thought about the irony of the situation for about one second before Peach slammed into her.

The only difference between Mika's hip attack and Peach's hip attack is that Peach's actually creates a small explosion upon impact, as Mika quickly found out. The blue-clad woman was sent flying into the air and landed on her back.

Mika jumped to her feet and narrowed her eyes at Peach. "I'll need to finish this quickly." She said to herself as she charged. Peach, thinking Mika would do another hip attack, prepared to block.

Unfortunately, you can't block a grab.

Mika, holding Peach, flipped over backwards and suplexed the Mushroom princess several times. After finishing, Mika grabbed the stunned Peach and threw her out of the arena. Peach was so dizzy that she couldn't activate her parasol or try hovering back in.

Peach landed in Bubsy: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind. On her way to the ground, she regained her senses and pulled out her parasol, floating safely towards the ground.

Unfortunately, a red convertible chose that time to drive underneath her. Peach landed in the backseat of the car, but before she could jump out, the doors locked and the roof closed over her, preventing her from escaping. The red convertible, with Peach still inside, continued driving.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

Unknown1 shook his head in hopelessness. "Amazing. No matter where she goes, that girl just can't stay out of trouble."

"I know." SSBFreak sighed. "It's almost like she's got a sign that says 'kidnap me' taped to her back.

**(The Arena) **

Duck King barreled into T. Hawk's stomach as the huge native bent forward. Ever since the Silver Samurai was eliminated, the Stormtrooper had gone on to fight Rasputin, and Duck had been forced to go it alone.

As soon as Duck's attack ended, T. Hawk raised his hand and spiked Duck into the canvas. The mohawked breakdancer quickly jumped to his feet and landed his foot against the giant man's face. T. Hawk staggered back as Duck continued the onslaught, slamming his palm into T. Hawk's chest several times.

Duck leapt into the air and grabbed T. Hawk's shoulders. Pushing himself over the giant native, Duck landed several sharp kicks into the square of T. Hawk's back. The baby duck quickly kicked T. Hawk in the chin afterwards.

When Duck landed, he saw that T. Hawk was getting close to the ropes. Duck stepped back a couple of steps, charged forward and went into a roll, continually striking T. Hawk from behind. T. Hawk flew towards the ropes and bounced off, where Duck easily booted him out of the arena.

T. Hawk landed in Luigi's Mansion. Once he found the Fire Medallion, the ghosts instantly started swarming him.

Back in the arena, Pikachu performed a Thundershock, bringing a lightning bolt down on Kula's head. The ice girl, although hurt, quickly shook off the effects of the attack and lashed out her hands, firing a freeze beam at the small Pokemon. Pikachu saw the attack coming and did a Quick Attack to avoid the blow.

Kula was getting intensely frustrated with how difficult it was to actually strike the rat Pokemon due to his size, but pressed on anyway. She suddenly saw Pikachu lunging at her and thrust her foot into his face, bringing him out of the charge.

Pikachu quickly jumped to his feet and shoved his face forward. "Pikachu!" He shouted, firing a bolt into the ground. The bolt crawled over to Kula, but the blue-haired girl easily avoided the attack. The rat Pokemon, feeling confident, ran at Kula again.

However, Kula saw him coming and grabbed him in midair. With a mighty swing, Kula threw Pikachu out of the arena. She then shoved her hand in the direction Pikachu was falling.

Luckily for Pikachu, he hadn't gone far enough for the Quick Attack not to help him recover. He did a Quick Attack and zoomed towards the arena again.

The Quick Attack suddenly stopped when Pikachu slammed headfirst into a sheet of ice that was attached to the ropes, thus preventing the Pokemon from re-entry. The senses knocked out of him, Pikachu tumbled into the vortex.

Pikachu landed in his home node. Luckily for him, he landed on a soft patch of grass, curled up and fell asleep.

Back in the arena, Kula watched as the block of ice melted away. The ice girl turned to see how everyone else was faring. Kula was amazed to see that Mika was still in the arena, and was now sitting on the ground, trying to catch enough breath to be ready for the next wave of fighters. Duck King (and his faithful pet P-Chan) danced around, keeping himself ready for anything. Rasputin adjusted his cloak and exhaled once, clearing his mind. The Stormtrooper, a couple of dents in his armour, checked over his rifle to make sure it was working properly. Peggi, giving a big, toothy grin, leaned on his hammer, taking some pressure off his injury.

Although the hands weren't around anymore, everyone knew that the next wave of fighters were about to enter.

**RESULTS**

DUCK KING (FF)

KULA DIAMOND (KOF)

RASPUTIN (WH)

RAINBOW MIKA (SFA3)

PEGGI (S3)

STORMTROOPER (SW)

**(ELIMINATED)**

LUCKY GLAUBER (KOF)

PEACH TOADSTOOL (SSB)

PIKACHU (SSB)

T. HAWK (SFA3)

LIQUIDATOR (DWD)

SILVER SAMURAI (MC)

KOJIROH SANADA (LB)

KAZUMA (GF)

BENIMARU NIKAIDO (KOF)

BELLE (S3)

STEVE FOX (T5)

MR. GAME & WATCH (SSB)

MIZUKI (SS)

MEZU (KE)

BONUS MATCHES:

"**Third Time's a Charm, Ash?" **

SODOM (SFA3) _**stalemates with**_ ASH CRIMSON (KOF)

"**Fur-Coated Felon" **

BILLY KANE (FF) _**shreds**_ SABRETOOTH (MC)

"**Security Smash II" **

ELECTRO (MC) _**shocks**_ KNUCKLES (StH)

Eliminations: Duck, Kula, Rasputin and Mika, 2; Peggi, Stormtrooper, Lucky, Peach, Pikachu and T. Hawk, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: R. Mika (8), King (7), Bruce Irvin (6), Peach Toadstool (5), Lucky Glauber (5), Chang Koehan (5), Heavy D! (5)

**R. Mika, Record-Breaker:** In only four sections, R. Mika now has more eliminations than anyone else in the MMT.

**New Guys Rule:** After this section finished, R. Mika is the only one left in the arena that survived more that one round.


	24. Section Eleven

**(The Arena) **

Everyone knew that the fighting would pick up again, so the remaining fighters wanted to wear down the competition as much as they could. The six fighters left in the arena battled with each other, although the only current alliance was between Duck King and the Stormtrooper.

That, however, was all about the change.

"**DAN HIBIKI!" (SFA3) **

Although people were surprised to hear 'Holding Out for a Hero' coming from the speakers, they cheered the pink-clad putz on anyway.

Dan was a little confused as to why Ryoko had to go to the merchandise arena before she came to the arena, he went on anyway. Dan waved to the crowd and ran down to the ring. He knew that Mika was still in the ring and wanted to lend a hand.

However, just as he got to the bottom of the ramp, he tripped and flew headfirst into the arena rather than jumping. He quickly saw who he was heading for.

"Mika! Look out!"

Mika turned, but was too late to avoid Dan. She let out a quick shout as Dan flew into her.

Of everything that the fighters in the arena expected to happen, what actually did wasn't one of them.

As soon as Dan slammed into Mika, he knocked her to the ground. However, his mouth had been at the same level as Mika's, and the mouths of both fighters touched as soon as Mika hit the canvas. Dan suddenly realized that he had accidentally given Mika a kiss and got off her. Mika jumped to her feet after.

Looking around, Dan and Mika saw that everyone in the arena was looking at them with wide eyes. Even through the visor, they could tell that the Stormtrooper was surprised. Both Street Fighters quickly blushed.

"Uh…So, how about them Packers?" Dan said.

"**GOH HINOGAMI!" (VF) **

Goh's cheer definitely wasn't as big as the ones Akira or Lion got, but that may have been because he was a new addition to the roster.

Even still, Goh paid his cheers next to no mind. He was merely looking out amongst the arena, a creepy smile floating across his face. You see, Goh was a powerful fighter like Bryan Fury, and was just as psychotic.

Landing in the arena, Goh slammed Duck with his fist, but quickly received a hard hammer blow to the stomach from Peggi.

"**PEGGI SHALL PROVE THAT HIS WEAPONS RULE!"** The loud lizardman roared into Goh's ear.

Goh, frantically wiggling his finger around in his ear to regain his hearing, decided to add Peggi to his list of targets.

"**SGT. JOE!" (S3) **

In the Sound Booth, Aila had decided to play a joke on the good sergeant by playing the theme song to 'Quack Pack' over the loud speakers. The large duck came out from behind the curtain and sighed in hopelessness at Aila as he marched down to the ring.

After landing in the arena, Sgt. Joe raised his weapon, which looked like a cross between a spear and an axe, and ran at Rasputin.

"I say!" Rasputin said as he lashed out a Lightning Orb at the oncoming duck. "What's all this for, friend?"

"Nothing personal." Sgt. Joe replied as he held out his weapon and negated the projectile. "But you eliminated Belle and it's just that I feel like a bit of nodal revenge."

"**CHIN GENSAI!" (KOF) **

"_Put your glasses on, baby" _

"_I've been cutting coupons lately" _

"_And may I say that you are looking so fine, girl" _

"_We'll stay put until the crack of nine, little girl" _

"_At the cakewalk, just like Matlock" _

"_Shake it all night!" _

"_Rock it like you're eighteen" _

"_Make it alright, busting back on the scene!" _

"_Vendetta!"_

To 'Vendetta' by Roper, Chin wobbled out from behind the curtain, scurried down the ramp and did a belly-flop into the arena.

Chin landed on something extremely soft. Getting up, Chin looked down and saw a small, baby duck wobbling around dizzily.

"P-CHAN!" A voice shrieked.

Chin looked in the direction of the voice and saw Duck staring at him in horror.

"You monster! You crushed P-Chan!" Duck screamed and rushed at Chin.

**(Hotel; K's Room) **

K' watched the monitors and contemplated going to the Eliminated Seating. Kula was definitely proving herself in the arena, and K' was becoming surprisingly proud of the ice girl.

"Maybe I should go watch her from the Eliminated Seating." K' wondered. "Besides, Maxima comes out in a few sections as well. Maybe I can see the two of them double-team a bit."

"Unfortunately, you won't have the chance to do that, my friend."

K' spun around to see M. Bison float from the shadows. The white-haired man growled and put up his fists.

"What is it you want?" K' asked. "You have a death wish or something?"

Bison smirked evilly. "You should consider yourself lucky." He said. "I need some help and I have chosen you to work for me."

"Forget it." K' scowled. "I don't work for anyone, much less egotistical scums that can barely last five minutes in a tournament like this."

A low chuckle came from the evil dictator. "I'm afraid you don't have much choice." He replied. "And besides, it's not like you did any better than I in the arena."

K' narrowed his eyes. "Shut up! Chain Driver!"

**(The Arena) **

"**KAEDE!" (LB) **

The dark-haired man came out from behind the curtain to the loudest cheer for the Last Blade gang yet. Looking around, Kaede smirked and raised an arm, blinding everyone in a white light.

When the light faded, Kaede was still standing on the ramp, but rather than having the long, dark hair from before, he had a full head of wavy, golden-blonde hair. Now ready, Kaede pulled out his sword and took to the ring.

"Let's face it." Kaede said to himself as he lashed out his sword, striking Dan and the Stormtrooper. "I'm the lead character in Last Blade. Let's see if they can dish out something that can take me down."

"**CHARLOTTE!" (SS) **

Kaede's eyes snapped open.

Charlotte couldn't believe her luck. Sure, she got an average draw, but Haohmaru was coming out in the next section! This was her big chance to prove to the samurai she was worthy to be his lover.

The French woman leapt into the arena and instantly ran at Kaede, slashing her sword at him.

Kaede frantically held up his own sword, blocking the blow, but only barely. "Me and my big mouth." He muttered.

Everyone was so interested in watching Charlotte pounding Kaede into the canvas that almost no one noticed the spotlights shining on the entrance curtain. In fact, Dan, Mika and Sgt. Joe were the only ones to notice this, although Goh joined in when he heard a slow, traditional (and VERY familiar) Chinese tune coming through the speakers.

"And now, Mystery Fighter…Number…**ELEVEN**!"

The curtain was pushed aside.

"**KUNG POW!" (Clayfighter 63 1/3) **

"_Everybody was kung-fu fighting!" _

Everyone watched as the large-footed, big-handed, toothy-grinned kung-fu chef with the Moe Howard (of the Three Stooges) haircut pranced down the ring to the beat of the song.

"_Those cats were fast as lightning!" _

Kung Pow let out an awkward-sounding battle cry and lunged into the arena in a flying kick.

Chin hiccuped as he looked over his shoulder. "Huh?"

Kung Pow's huge foot slammed into Chin's face, knocking him away from an enraged Duck. The breakdancer quickly ran off after the old drunkard to continue the fight.

"Great." Goh muttered. "It's bad enough that there's ONE weird person with huge hands and feet in the arena (Rasputin looked offended), but now we've got TWO."

Kung Pow seemed to hear him. He turned to face the assassin and struck a strange pose. "Who you master?"

"What?"

Kung Pow rushed at Goh and started poking him with chopsticks.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Heavy D! walked into the area and looked around for people that could help him. He quickly saw Chang Koehan (who still was dressed like a superhero) and went over.

The black boxer grasped Chang's shoulder. "Come on, big guy. We need your help."

Chang looked away from the arena and looked up at D! "Ah! Is it about this plot 'The Koehan' heard about from Lee Chaolan?"

D! nodded. "Probably."

Chang grinned and stood up. "Then count 'The Koehan' in!" He said happily. "Such a foul plot that 'The Koehan' shall take extreme pleasure in taking these dastardly villains down!"

Jacky Bryant suddenly came over. "Say. Can I help?"

"You sure, man?" D! asked. "You don't know what you're getting into."

"I'm sure." Jacky nodded.

D! shrugged. "Okay. We could use a few more hands."

Clark Steele quickly came over. "Wait! You know this plot that Dan Hibiki found out?" He asked. "I've been waiting around here for one of you guys to show up ever since that Reed fellow eliminated me!"

The four suddenly saw Ryu, Falco Lombardi and Watari coming over.

"I wish to come along." Ryu said. "I can sense something big going on and I wish to assist in defeating it."

"Then I must accompany you all as well." Everyone turned and saw Sagat coming into the area. "Plus, Bison's got Bruce Irvin. I owe it to Bruce to help save him."

Jack from the World Heroes node scurried over. "Can I come too?" He asked with a psychotic grin.

D! paused to wonder if it would be sane to have Jack helping them, then nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

**(The Arena) **

"**RYOKO!" (WH) **

**(Eliminated Seating) **

D! was about to leave when he heard Robert spitting out his drink again (as well as Hugo muttering a few select curse words). Pausing to look in the direction of the ramp, D!'s eyes suddenly snapped open from behind his shades.

Ryoko was gleefully running down to the arena. However, over her fighting uniform was a white shirt two sizes too big for her that she had picked up at the merchandise area. In big, bold letters on the front were the words 'I LUV HEAVY D!'.

"Wow." D! said as he watched Ryoko jump into the arena. "My first fangirl."

"Join the club, man." Sonic the Hedgehog muttered from his seat, the sight of Ryoko reminding him of Amy Rose.

**(The Arena) **

Rasputin ended up doing a double-take when Ryoko jumped into the arena. "Ryoko? What's with the shirt?"

Ryoko sighed dreamily. "Heavy D! saved me earlier and now I see just how great a hero he is!" She replied. "I want to show everyone that I'm a fan, now!"

Rasputin scratched his head, but decided not to press matters further.

"**MAGNETO!" (MC) **

The master of magnetism came out from behind the curtain and floated down to the arena. He was contemplating his chances in the arena and wasn't very confident looking at how well the villains had been faring thus far.

Of course, it didn't help matters that R. Mika, the current heavy-hitter, was still in the arena.

Magneto entered the arena and waved his hand in Charlottle's direction.

Suddenly feeling her armour being pulled upwards, Charlotte found herself getting lifted off the canvas. She tried struggling free of Magneto's iron grip, but to no avail.

Magneto's attack was cut short when Kung Pow landed a hard kick to his back.

The mutant villain turned and saw Kung Pow standing before him, wielding a pair of butcher knives.

"You're going to pay for that one, fool." Magneto said flatly.

Kung Pow gave a big, toothy grin and motioned for Magneto to come forward.

"**CECILE!" (S3) **

Those unfamiliar with Suikoden stared in amazement.

There she was. Cecile was a mere girl and she was wearing a helmet and chestplate that were far too big for her. She had a large shield in one hand and a spear in the other. Despite the fact that her father's armour was protecting her upper body, her legs were almost completely unprotected save for a plaid skirt that went to her knees.

Cecile ran down to the arena, seemingly unnoticing the weight of the armour she was wearing.

Peggi saw Cecile jump in. **"HEY, CECILE!"** He screamed. **"IT'S GOOD TO SEE A FAMILIAR FACE IN SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" **

Cecile nodded. "Thanks, Peggi." She said. "Now let's do some double-teaming."

Peggi grinned. **"YOU GOT IT!" **

**(Dome; Recovery Room) **

"How much longer until Mr. Glauber returns, Mio?" Tuta asked.

Mio looked at an electronic device on the wall before turning back to the head doctor. "About seven more minutes." She replied.

Tuta nodded. "We'd best get a bed ready for him when he reappears, then." He looked towards a man with a huge smile. "Are you sure about your decision to not fight in the tournament, Hanma?" He asked.

"Of course." Hanma replied. "I would prefer to help the wounded rather than fight."

"Well, okay. Just as long as you're comfortable with it."

Suddenly, the doctors (and nurses) noticed Faust look around cautiously. He pulled out his giant scalpel.

"What is it, Faust?" Mio asked.

"I hear something." Faust replied. He then called out. "I know you're out there! Come out!"

Suddenly, two figures jumped in from the shadows on the ceiling. When the figures landed, they saw two female figures dressed in secretary uniforms.

"Why are you two here?" Tuta asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We're here on business." Vice replied with a smirk. "We've been ordered to assassinate a certain basketball player once he comes back."

"Don't resist and we won't kill you." Mature added.

Tuta's eyes widened. "Absurd! I'll never allow it!"

"Then I afraid we'll be forced to put you out of OUR misery." Mature said as she and Vice approached the doctors.

Faust quickly stepped in the way and held up his weapon. "Doctor Faust is in and YOU are about to be admitted!"

The bag-headed doctor jumped back and dropped into his stance, getting ready to take the two secretaries on. "Hanma, you may not want to fight, but I'm all too willing to do it!"

**(The Arena) **

"**HINAKO!" (KOF) **

The young, female sumo wrestler jumped out from behind the curtain and ran down to the ring. Leaping in, Hinako ran in to help Kula with Ryoko.

Royko saw Hinako rushing over and lashed out an Energy Blast from her palms. The young sumo wrestler flew across the arena.

"Weird." Ryoko said. "I didn't know a little girl like that could do sumo."

"**GEESE HOWARD!" (FF) **

Despite the mixed reaction the crowd was giving him, Geese paid it no attention. People were wondering why Geese was staring into the arena with a blank expression, but they didn't know that the Southtown crimeboss had recently had his mind wiped by Bison.

Geese looked around the arena and knew that Dan and Mika were considered threats to Master Bison's plan, and must be eliminated. Geese adjusted his cloak and ran down to the ring.

Goh quickly saw Geese come in and decided to tempt fate, attacking the crimeboss with a flurry of punches. Kung Pow quickly aided the assassin with a pan strike to Geese's face.

Dan and Mika looked at each other, held hands, looked back at Geese and charged together.

"**KAZUYA MISHIMA!" (T5) **

Kazuya's cheer was easily the largest Tekken cheer yet. The son of Heihachi Mishima narrowed his eyes and looked around. He saw Magneto giving Geese a hand with Goh and Kung Pow, so he decided not to bother with them.

Brushing his purple suit, Kazuya ran down to the arena. Once he landed in, he grabbed Dan and spiked him to the ground.

"What your problem, man?" Dan asked as he got to his feet.

"Nothing personal, but I detest people with no skill." Kazuya replied.

Dan's eyes narrowed. "Hey!"

"And now, the final fighter of this section…"

"**LUIGI MARIO!" (SSB) **

The crowd erupted with cheers as the green-clad plumber came out from behind the curtain.

"_Tired of being what you want me to be" _

"_Feeling so faithless, lost under the surface" _

"_Don't know what you're expecting of me" _

"_Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes" _

Luigi stopped when he heard 'Numb' by Linkin Park coming from the speakers. He cast a confused look up to the Sound Booth.

"_Caught in the undertow" _

"_Just caught in the undertow" _

"_Every step that I take is another mistake to you" _

"_Caught in the undertow" _

"_Just caught in the undertow" _

A smirk floated across Luigi's face as he flashed a thumb's up to the Sound Booth. Shadow returned the gesture.

"_I've become so numb" _

"_I can't feel you there" _

"_I've become so tired" _

"_So much more aware" _

"_I'm becoming this" _

"_All I want to do" _

"_Is be more like me"_

"_And be less like you"_

Luigi jumped into the arena and ran over to help Duck with Chin. Running over to the old drunk, Luigi delivered a sharp karate chop, knocking Chin to the ground.

"I appreciate the help, man." Duck said.

"No problem. Always glad to help." Luigi nodded.

"Well, let's take this guy out!"

"Sounds like a plan to me!"


	25. Section Eleven Results

**(The Arena) **

"Raging…STORM!"

A lot of people were surprised at the strange, almost monotone voice Geese was using as he hammered Rasputin and Kazuya with his strongest attack. No one knew that Bison now had control of the Southtown crime boss' mind, and that only made them even more confused. Luckily, neither Rasputin nor Kazuya were eliminated. Kazuya flew over the ropes, but quickly swung back in, and Rasputin was lucky enough to land on Sgt. Joe.

Geese turned and saw Dan, Mika and Ryoko running over.

"_Targets pose a threat to Master Bison's plan."_ Geese thought. _"They must be destroyed."_

Dan was the first to jump in, lashing out a Gadouken. The pink-clad fighter knew that Geese was the master of physical counters, but a projectile would prove to be somewhat effective. The small fireball slammed into Geese's face, providing an opening for Mika to grapple him and slam him into the canvas.

Geese tried getting up, but quickly felt Ryoko slam a palm into his back, knocking him back down again.

"Something's going on." Dan said. "Geese looks like he's drained."

"I dunno, but I don't like it." Mika replied. "Maybe we'd better get him out of here as quick as we can."

Meanwhile, Kaede ducked again as Charlotte's sword swung over his head. He had been avoiding the blonde woman's attacks ever since she had entered the arena and it looked like he was starting to tire out.

Charlotte saw this as well. She smirked and lashed out her sword again. Kaede frantically ducked and scrambled off, but Charlotte was on him like a hawk, chasing him down. On his way of escaping, Kaede ended up tripping over Chin Gensai, whom had been knocked down by a very-angry Duck King.

Kaede landed on his stomach, but quickly jumped to his feet and ran off.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"I'm not really sure of Kaede's chances." Unknown1 scratched his chin. "I mean, Charlotte's been aiming to eliminate him ever since she entered."

"Heh. Maybe now that guy'll learn not to be so cocky anymore." SSBFreak said with a smirk.

Suddenly, the phone sitting on the desk started ringing. Unknown1 was the one to pick it up.

"Hello?…Yes…What? Then get over there, quick!" With that, Unknown1 hung up the phone.

"What is it now?"

"Vice and Mature are attacking the doctors. Faust is trying to hold them off."

The two stared at each other in silence, suddenly thinking something really big was going on behind their backs.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Heavy D! led his newfound allies down a hallway, going towards the Recovery Room to join the rest of the gang to fetch Lucky. During the trek, he had filled them in on what had happened so far.

"Such a foul plot!" Chang said in shock. "'The Koehan' shall destroy these evildoers and assist in saving these poor youngsters!"

Heavy D! looked at Clark, hoping that the Ikari warrior knew what was going on with the giant mountain of man's strange personality change. Seeing D!'s look, Clark simply shrugged.

"It really makes me wonder what he wants with Bruce." Sagat said. "It just doesn't make sense."

"Well, we can't think of that right now." Falco shook his head. "We have to complete this mission and we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

Ryu nodded. "Quite. I can only hope that this other group we're meeting up with is big."

"It is." D! replied. "In fact, we have three others still in the arena: Dan Hibiki, Rainbow Mika and Ryoko."

"Ryoko? That little girl I saw running down the ramp to the arena wearing that 'I LUV HEAVY D!' shirt?" Jacky asked.

D! sighed. "Yeah. That's her."

**(The Arena) **

Speaking of Ryoko, the young World Hero lashed out her palms, striking Geese with a quick energy blast. This attack sent the brainwashed crime boss back several feet.

While Geese was on his back, R. Mika climbed onto another turnbuckle and leapt off, letting out a high-pitched battle cry. Her elbow landed squarely on Geese's stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

As Geese slowly got to his feet, he received three kicks to the face courtesy of Dan Hibiki.

Geese snarled at his three opponents and got into his stance.

Kaede screamed as he ran past the fight with Charlotte hot on his tail.

The blonde woman, getting to tire of the fight, decided to end it. Swinging her sword in the shape of a triangle, Charlotte actually DREW a triangle in the air, which quickly chased after Kaede.

The pentagram slammed into Kaede's back, knocking him to the ground.

Charlotte ran over to Kaede's prone form, picked him up and pitched him away, firing him over the ropes and out of the arena.

Kaede landed in Unreal Championship. He lasted a little longer than the average person did before a grenade landed at his feet.

Duck King rolled into a ball and slammed into Chin's stomach several times. Chin flew back and landed in the scuffle Goh and Kung Pow were having with Magneto. Duck ran in to continue taking his rare aggression out on the old drunk.

"No one hurts MY duck and gets away with it!" Everyone in the arena heard Duck shout as he vanished into the group of fighters.

Just as Duck was about to attack Chin further, he received a painful blow to the head from Goh (which was aimed at Magneto). The breakdancer, unmoved, lunged at Chin in another rolling ball.

"Magnetic Shockwave!" Everyone heard Magneto shout from somewhere in the massive fight.

The resulting attack sent Goh and Kung Pow flying away, but the two quickly recovered and ran back into the fray. While they were running over, Chin had accidentally bonked Magneto on the head with his bottle. This earned him a strong blow to the back.

"He's MY elimination, man!" Duck shouted as he headbutted Magneto, knocking him back.

"Stay away from him, man!" Goh shouted as he and Kung Pow rejoined the fight. "He'll kill you!"

"He's trying to eliminate that old guy! I'M the one to eliminate him!" Duck said.

Kung Pow pulled out a pan and beat Magneto over the head with it. "Then why not eliminate him now? We still fight magnetic man."

Duck stood in silence for a few seconds before turning and running back towards Chin, whom was slowly standing up. Chin brushed himself off, unknowing of the breakdancer currently charging in from behind. When he got close enough, Duck rolled into a ball.

The breakdancer plowed into Chin's back at full force. As he approached the end of the roll, Duck launched himself into a kick, lifting Chin up and over the ropes.

Chin landed in Super Star Wars, in the Cantina level. He got up, stumbled over to the bar and ordered a drink, oblivious to the furious melee Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Chewbacca were having with a bunch of thugs.

Rasputin lashed out his hand, firing another Lightning Orb at Cecile. The young girl held up her shield, easily blocking the projectile.

"You'll have to do better than that, mister!" Cecile said with a confident smirk. "I'm not the commander of the Budehuc Guard for no reason, you know!"

At the mention of Cecile's title, Rasputin's eyes widened. "You? The commander of a castle guard? How could this be possible for such a young girl?"

"You kidding?" Cecile asked. "I was the commander LONG before Thomas became the castle master!"

"Then you are obviously more skilled than what I had originally thought." Rasputin nodded. "I'm very impressed."

"Thanks."

"So it would bring me great pleasure if you could eliminate me."

Cecile did a double-take. "W-What? You actually WANT to be eliminated?"

"Yes. This tournament means little to me, you see. All these people being violent and no matter how much I try, I can never get anyone to change." Rasputin replied. "I've got the information I needed, so I no longer need to be here. In fact, there's someone outside of the arena right now whom requires my assistance."

Cecile nodded. "Okay. Get ready, then."

Rasputin nodded, than ran at Cecile. Swinging his fist, he purposefully missed Cecile, who grabbed him and threw him from the arena. Cecile then went off to start a fight with the Stormtrooper.

Rasputin landed in Megaman, where he started rehabilitating Robot Masters (making Megaman's job considerably easier).

The brainwashed Geese Howard lashed out with his hands, firing a blue energy projectile across the canvas. Dan and Mika dodged to the side, but Ryoko wasn't so lucky. The young girl took the projectile head on and became stunned.

Geese took this chance and charged. The Southtown crime boss grabbed Ryoko and flipped her over his shoulder, sending her across the arena.

"One down, two to go." Geese said as he looked at Dan and Mika. He motioned for them to 'Come on'.

Ryoko landed on the other side of the arena, on her back. Looking ahead, Ryoko saw the arena lights floating above her. She suddenly saw a blonde, purple-clad girl poke her head into the top of her line of sight.

"Oh, goody! An easy elimination!" Hinako said as she reached down to throw Ryoko from the arena.

Ryoko snapped out of her daze and narrowed her eyes. "Not likely!"

Rolling to the side, Ryoko jumped to her feet and looked at Hinako. "If you think I'm just gonna let myself be eliminated so easily, you're highly mistaken!"

Hinako sighed. "Looks like I'll need to wear you down before I toss you out."

Ryoko smoothed out her new fangirl shirt, looked at Hinako and ran at her.

Just as Ryoko came within reach, Hinako grabbed her and threw her to the ground in a sumo-grapple. Hinako pulled her fot into the air and prepared to slam it down on Ryoko's stomach.

Again, Ryoko rolled to the side and got to her feet. Just before Hinako performed her stomp attack, Ryoko performed a more powerful energy blast, striking the female sumo wrestler with full power. Hinako flew from the arena with no hope of coming back.

Hinako landed in Tekken 5. Getting up, she looked around and saw that she was in a dojo.

"What brings you to my dojo?"

Hinako turned and saw a sumo wrestler in black garb walking over. She gasped and squealed in glee. "You're Ganryu! Oh, I've heard so much about you, sir!" Hinako said as she ran over. "News of your amazing sumo skills have reached my school and I've been wanting to meet you ever since I took up the art!"

Ganryu did a double-take. "You do sumo?" He asked.

"Yes! Yes!" Hinako nodded furiously. "And I must say that it would be an honor if you would let me challenge you!"

Ganryu scratched his head. "Well, okay."

"Thank you, sir!" Hinako got into her stance. "Don't hold back!"

The battle lasted about thirty seconds. During that time, Hinako managed to hit Ganryu a grand total of two times.

**(Hotel; K's Room) **

K' landed on his side, feeling the pain of one of Bison's Psycho Crushers. Getting up, K' wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth as he looked at his opponent.

Bison, in the meantime, was engulfed in Psycho Energy and floating about two inches off the ground. The brim of his cap was covering his eyes, but if anyone could have seen them, they would have seen his eyes turn a slight shade of blue.

"You're quite an annoying little punk." Bison said as he floated towards K', whom had gotten back into his stance again. "However, you shall make a good addition to my forces when I brainwash you."

"Forget it." K' replied. "I couldn't care less about you. The same goes for that stupid organization you run."

Bison narrowed his eyes. "That was the wrong answer, and I'll see to it that you pay dearly for that."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." K' muttered as he engulfed his hand in fire. "Just bring it, ugly!"

"Ugly, am I?" Bison said as he stepped back.

"You bet. As much as I hate to admit it, I think K9999 is less ugly than you!"

Bison's eyes narrowed. "ULTIMATE PSYCHO CRUSHER!"

K' smirked. "HEAT DRIVER!"

Bison flew headfirst into a stream of fire from K', but it did little more than bring him out of his attack.

Seeing his attack getting nullified, Bison growled and flipped forward. This strike was luckier, as both of Bison's heels slammed into K's forehead. The white-haired clone staggered back a couple of steps, but quickly recovered and lashed out his foot, striking Bison in the face.

Clutching the side of his face, Bison lashed out with his other hand, firing a slow-moving projectile at K'. K' luckily had done research and knew that this projectile was pure Psycho Energy, and if that struck him with enough force, his wind could be warped.

K' quickly sidestepped the projectile and rushed at Bison, striking Bison in the other side of the head. This knocked the cap off Bison's head, showing K' the two eyes the evil dictator had.

Seeing the pure blue of Bison's eyes, K' smirked again and whipped out a pair of sunglasses. "Here, man. You could use these to cover up those ugly eyes."

Not really expecting what would happen, Bison allowed the sunglasses to strike his chest.

Big mistake.

"CHAIN DRIVER!"

K' lunged at Bison and performed his most powerful attack. Bison may have been an overpowered dictator, but even he couldn't stand up to the might of K's Chain Driver.

Bison flew back-first into the wall, his energy gone. Slowly, Bison got up and glared daggers at K'.

"You are more annoying than I anticipated." Bison said as he picked up his cap and put it back on. "Very well. I'll let you live this time."

Without giving K' a chance to reply, Bison teleported out of the room. This left K' once again alone.

K' sighed as he put on his own pair of shades. "Man. That guy gives me the creeps."

With that, K' left the room, not really caring about the condition of his now-destroyed room.

**(The Arena) **

Sgt. Joe let out an awkward-sounding quack as Luigi, his current opponent, took his legs out from under him. The giant mallard landed on his face, but quickly lashed out his weapon at Luigi's legs. Showing the natural amount of leg power for a Mario brother to have, Luigi leapt over the weapon and landed gracefully on his feet again.

Luigi jumping into the air gave Sgt. Joe enough time to get to his feet. The duck waited for Luigi to land, and once he did, Sgt. Joe charged. Luigi saw him coming and tossed a green fireball at the oncoming duck.

The fireball struck Sgt. Joe's jacket. Before the duck had time to wonder why the fireball didn't set his jacket on fire, Luigi delivered a sharp karate chop to his head. Unfortunately for Luigi, Sgt. Joe's helmet is tougher than the average human hand, and the only thing he succeeded in doing was create a searing pain in his hand.

Seeing Luigi hurt himself, Sgt. Joe charged again, feeling lucky.

Unfortunately, he wasn't lucky. Luigi saw him coming again and broke into his patented Luigi Cyclone. People were expecting to see Sgt. Joe get attacked with a flurry of punches, but were surprised to see the duck fly into the air after the first strike.

"A lot of you folks are probably confused." Unknown1 explained. "You see, one of the things that sets Luigi's moveset apart from Mario's beside the karate moves is the fact that the Luigi Cyclone doesn't hit multiple times, but sends the opponent flying further."

Unknown1 was right. Sgt. Joe had flown so high and far that he was getting close to the ropes. Luigi leapt into the air and delivered an aerial kick, eliminating the military duck.

Sgt. Joe landed in a field of tall grass. He looked around, confused as to why all these ducks were flying around.

Suddenly hearing the sound of a gun being loaded, Sgt. Joe quickly decided to run.

Kung Pow and Goh were still fighting Magneto, and surprisingly looked like they were losing. Goh was sporting a very new back injury and Kung Pow's jaw looked even looser than it already did (if that was at all possible).

Goh looked at his newfound ally. "This guy is killing us! How're we supposed to take him down?"

The kung fu chef cracked his huge knuckles. "We keep trying." He replied. "He fall eventually. Maybe we wear him down."

Goh nodded. "Since I have no plans, we'll go with that."

Magneto chuckled. "You fools REALLY think you can take me on and win?" He asked. "The X-Men can barely do it as a small army! What makes you think you can defeat me with just the two of you!"

"Because we've actually got skill." Goh replied with a smirk.

**(Marvel Locker Room) **

Jubilee scratched her head. "Is he insulting us or Magneto?" She asked.

Iceman shook his head. "Both, I'd say."

**(The Arena) **

Magneto narrowed his eyes. "If that's the way you want to play, then so be it."

The mutant villain lifted his hands into the air, activating his powers again. Everyone watched in surprised as Charlotte and the Stormtrooper rose off the ground by the metallic armour they were wearing and floated over to Magneto's side.

"Let's see if you can hit me now with these two in the way." Magneto said triumphantly.

Kung Pow's mouth fell open. "Him cheat!" The Clayfighter pointed out.

"Looks like we'll need to get those two out of the way before we can take metal-head on again." Goh sighed, not really used to playing the part of 'hero'.

Kung Pow nodded. "You get man if funny outfit. I get woman."

Goh nodded in reply as the two ran in.

Kung Pow leapt into the air, grabbed Charlotte and kicked Magneto in the head, making him break his iron grip on the two prisoners. Goh quickly grabbed the Stormtrooper and pulled him away.

Charlotte sighed in relief as she landed on the canvas again. "Thanks for the help."

"No problem, but I must get you out of arena!" Kung Pow replied. "You not safe here!"

"What? No, I'm alright." Charlotte replied. "I don't need to-"

"Kung Fu Grip!"

Charlotte took too long getting the info through Kung Pow's thick skull. The Frenchwoman flew out of the arena.

Charlotte landed on the hunter in Duck Hunt. Sgt. Joe sighed in relief.

Brushing his hands off, Kung Pow turned around.

"What the heck did you do that for?" Goh asked.

"What? You say we need to get them out of way." Kung Pow replied.

Goh was about to smack Kung Pow upside the head when a familiar voice rose once again.

"**PEGGI SHALL TAKE YOU OUT, MERE HUMAN!"** The hammer-wielding lizardman screamed.

"Don't make me laugh." Kazuya replied. "A lizard like you take out a man as powerful as me? Get real."

"**ARE YOU KIDDING?"** Peggi shouted back. **"YOU MAKE ME LAUGH IN YOUR FACE! HA HA HA! SEE? I'M LAUGHING!" **

"AND you're annoying." Kazuya muttered as he thrust his fist out.

Peggi swerved to the side and lifted his hammer into the air. **"YOU CALL THAT AN ATTACK? THIS IS AN ATTCK! PEGGI SMASH!" **

*KA-WHAM!*

Peggi's hammer slammed into the canvas with full power. Kazuya was lucky enough to dodge the blow, but the massive tremor that went through the arena knocked everyone but the floating Magneto to the canvas.

Kazuya got up and glared daggers at Peggi. "You irk me."

The loud lizardman stared in silence for a few seconds. **"IF I KNEW WHAT THAT MEANT, I BET I'D BE OFFENDED!" **

"Good." Kazuya ran at Peggi and booted him out of the arena while he was distracted.

Peggi landed in Crono Trigger. He saw Crono and started talking (yelling) to him, confused as to why he wasn't answering.

**(Dome; Recovery Room) **

"What the heck's going on, here?" Was the first thing out of Kojiroh's mouth after appearing back in the Recovery Room.

"I dunno. They've been going at it since before I appeared here." Benimaru scratched his head.

Vice and Mature lashed out with their arms, which Faust was able to block with his giant scalpel. The bag-headed doctor jumped over the two secretaries of Rugal and landed behind them. Once he landed, he swung his weapon, making the blunt end connect with Mature's shoulder.

As the blonde secretary staggered away a few steps, clutching her shoulder, Vice leapt at Faust, hands scratching like they were razor-sharp claws. Faust was lucky enough to block most of the attacks, but he received several sharp cuts that would definitely require medical treatment after the fight.

"Someone needs to help him!" Kojiroh was about to jump out of her bed and help Faust when Mio held her back.

"You're injured, Miss Sanada." Mio insisted. "Please don't risk it any further."

Vice kicked Faust in the head, knocking him away from her. "You okay, Mature?"

Mature shook her head to regain her senses and nodded. "Yeah. My shoulder doesn't hurt that much." She replied. "Let's kill the guy!"

Vice smirked evilly. "Now you're talking!"

If anyone would have been able to see Faust's face, they would have seen him smirk slightly. "Prepare for your annual checkups, you two!" He said. "The doctor is in!"

Vice and Mature jumped at Faust together, hoping to tear the insane doctor apart.

One swing from Faust's weapon and Vice was sent flying into the wall. Mature, seeing her friend getting attacked, continued the onslaught on Faust. The bag-headed doctor held up his scalpel and blocked five strikes from Mature before she whipped him in the leg with her arm.

"_Great. Another injury to require attention."_ Faust said as a searing pain flowed through his leg.

Mature smirked, seeing Faust's defense drop. "Vice, we've almost got him! Let's finish him off!"

Vice ran back to Mature's side. "You got it!"

"HELLBOUND!"

*KA-BLAM!*

Before either secretary had any time to react, they found themselves airborne. Vice and Mature landed face-up on two beds with wheels. Tuta and Hanma, seeing their chance, ran over to the beds and strapped Vice and Mature down to them.

All medical personnel turned to see a newly-arrived Lucky Glauber standing on the floor, basketball in hand.

"Mr. Glauber!" Mio said. "These two came in here looking to kill you!"

Lucky smirked at Faust. "Then let's get them out of the room."

Faust, seeing what Lucky was suggesting, nodded. He and Lucky each grabbed the end of a bed the two secretaries were still strapped to and wheeled them towards the door to the Recovery Room.

"What do you think you're doing?" Vice asked.

Lucky didn't answer. He simply pushed the bed out the door with all his might, making Vice shoot down the hallway on the other side.

The strike force had just arrived at the doors to the Recovery Room and quickly pressed themselves against the wall as Vice was sent rolling down the hallway. Faust quickly pushed Mature out after her, sending both secretaries roaring down the hallway with no way to slow down.

Vivian looked into the room and saw Lucky. "Mr. Glauber! We've been waiting for you to arrive here!"

Lucky, seeing Bridget in the crowd, nodded. "No problem. Let's get going."

**(The Arena) **

R. Mika backhanded Geese across the face, knocking him back into a high kick from Dan. The three 'good' fighters were still fighting Geese and the crime boss, although still brainwashed, was definitely holding his own against all three.

Seeing Ryoko coming at him again, Geese lashed out another Reppuken, striking the young judo fighter with enough force to stun her. Geese broke away from Dan and ran at Ryoko, performing a Deadly Rave. Geese slammed into Ryoko with full force, sending her flying towards a duel Luigi was having with Cecile.

Luigi ducked as Cecile's spear jabbed the air above him. The green-clad plumber quickly kicked Cecile in the leg, making her stop attacking long enough to stand up. Once he got up, Luigi threw two fireballs at the young guard, but Cecile was quick enough to raise her shield, blocking both burning balls of fire.

Cecile quickly ran at Luigi and smashed her shield against his face, making him back away from her several feet.

Rubbing his face, Luigi looked at Cecile. "Okay, that does it!" He said. "Time to dish out my ultimate attack!"

Luigi crouched low and started pulsating with a strange, green energy. Cecile, not really sure what to expect, lifted her shield to protect her.

"_Somehow, I don't think it's going to help."_ Cecile thought.

"GREEN MISSILE!" Luigi shouted as he launched forward like a rocket, head-first, towards Cecile.

Suddenly, Ryoko chose that time to fly in between the two. Luigi's head connected with Ryoko's back, unintentionally sending her flying out of the arena.

Ryoko landed in a boxing ring. Standing up, she saw that she had landed on Little Mac, knocking him out.

"Hey! Who do you think you are, knocking out my opponent?"

Ryoko turned around and saw Piston Hurricane standing on the other side of the ring.

The black boxer suddenly saw Ryoko's tee-shirt and read it. "Heavy D! You're a fan of that reject? How can someone actually LIKE that guy?"

Ryoko's face turned red and Hurricane could have sworn he saw steam shooting from her ears.

"No one calls D!-san a reject and gets away with it! Not while I'm around!" Ryoko lunged at Hurricane. "Take this, putz!"

**(Dome; Outside Recovery Room) **

"Hey, wait!"

Lucky turned to Asuka. "What is it?"

"Ryoko's just been eliminated. I say we wait for her to appear again before we go on." Asuka replied.

Cody nodded. "Might be better that way."

**(The Arena) **

"Well, there goes one of our allies." Dan muttered.

"We can defeat him, Dan! Just keep fighting!" Mika said as he kicked Geese in the head.

"Get away from him, Mika!" Dan shouted, leaping into the air. "Dan-Dan-Kick!"

Mika saw Dan coming and ducked out of the way as Dan flew by, nailing Geese with three kicks to the chest.

Geese growled. "These pests are getting annoying." He said to himself. "If I'm to continue, I need to take them both out." He lifted his hands into the air. "Raging…STORM!"

Geese slammed his hands into the canvas again, creating a huge pillar of energy around him. Both Dan and Mika were nailed with the attack and flew off in opposite directions. Dan flew into a turnbuckles, preventing him from flying out of the arena. Mika, however, landed on the canvas several yards away.

Mika looked up and saw Kula Diamond staring down at her.

"Hmm…You're the current leader in the tournament." Kula mused, rubbing her chin. "Maybe I should throw you from the arena and end the run."

Mika narrowed her eyes and thrust her foot out. Her blue-haired opponent easily caught Mika's foot, blocking the blow.

Showing a surprising amount of strength, Kula lifted Mika off the ground by her foot and tossed her over her shoulder. Mika flew over the ropes and was too tired to try and get back in.

R. Mika landed in WCW vs. NWO, where she spent the next ten minutes utterly destroying a gauntlet of wrestlers.

"And R. Mika, our current leader, has been eliminated!" SSBFreak said. "Well, I was expecting it sooner or later."

**(Dome; Outside Recovery Room) **

"Well, there goes Mika." Lucky sighed. "Now we'd better wait for her as well."

**(The Arena) **

Goh lashed out his fist, catching Magneto in the stomach. Magneto quickly retaliated with a Magnetic Shockwave, launching the assassin back several feet, landing on his back.

Magneto approached Goh and prepared to toss him from the arena when he felt a light tapping against the back of his helmet. Turning around, the master of magnetism saw Kung Pow poking him with chopsticks.

"You really think those get through my helmet, fool?" Magneto asked.

Kung Pow didn't answer. He simply slammed a pan into Magneto's face, knocking him back.

"Chop Suey!" Kung Pow shouted and lunged forward in a move that looked remarkably similar to Dan's triple kick. He landed four kicks to Magneto's chest and landed on his feet. Once he did, he fired his foot into the mutant's stomach.

By now, Goh had recovered and ran over to assist the Clayfighter. The assassin leapt into the air and landed a kick against Magneto's back. Once he landed, Goh grabbed Magneto's arm and threw him over his shoulder.

Magneto landed on the canvas, but quickly recovered. He jumped up and continued floating in the air.

"You fools have been getting on my nerves ever since we started fighting." Magneto said. "But this has gone far enough. It is time for me to end this!"

Once again, Magneto raised his arms. Everyone in the arena suddenly felt the ground starting to shake. The tremor knocked most of the fighters off their feet again, but the quake only lasted about ten seconds.

"What the heck was that about?" The Stormtrooper shouted.

His question was answered when everyone saw two huge pieces of metal (that used to be part of the arena underside) floating above the ropes.

"Take this!" Magneto roared as he lashed out his hands, launching the two huge pieces of debris at Goh and Kung Pow.

Kung Pow smirked and jumped in front of Goh. Crouching low, a blue light suddenly emitted from his head. Letting out an awkward-sounding battle cry, Kung Pow leapt into the air and started spinning in an attack that looked like a goofy version of Ryu and Ken's Hurricane Kick. Both pieces of the arena struck Kung Pow's feet during the attack and were sent flying out of the arena (where they made a round of Mario Kart extremely difficult).

Magneto growled and approached Kung Pow, starting to get furious.

Kung Pow smirked and crouched even lower. Once Magneto got close enough, the goofy Clayfighter stuck his foot into the air.

"De Cobra!"

Magneto floated right into the seemingly weak attack. Kung Pow's big toe struck Magneto in the face, launching him fifty feet into the air. Everyone in the arena watched in shock at the power of Kung Pow's attack as Magneto fell past the ropes and through the elimination vortex.

Magneto landed in Streets of Rage 2. Max grabbed him and piledrived him into the ground.

Kung Pow turned around and saw Goh staring at him, slack-jawed.

"H-How the heck did you just do that?" Goh asked.

The Clayfighter placed his hands together and bowed. "You need more training."

**(Dome; Hallway) **

"Julia, w-wait a second." Eiji said.

Julia, jogging down the hallway, looked over her shoulder and saw Eiji starting to slow down, holding his head. Eiji wavered around for a couple of seconds and collapsed against the wall.

"Eiji! You alright?" Julia asked as she ran over.

Eiji shook his head as Julia helped him to his feet. "I'm not sure. These elements are still fighting and I just can't figure out a way to get them to stop."

"Say, you think maybe the pain would die down a bit if you actually tried to use these elements during a fight?" Julia asked.

The purple-clad ninja scratched his chin, thinking over the question. "I'm not sure if it would or not."

"Well, try it now. Just try throwing an element projectile at the wall." Julia suggested, stepping aside.

"I suppose I could give it a shot." Eiji said.

Concentrating heavily, Eiji lashed out his right hand. To his and Julia's shock, a small wave of water shot from his hand, across the floor and slammed against the wall, disappearing in an instant.

Pausing in wonder, Eiji lashed out his left arm, and sure enough, a steady stream of fire emitted from it.

Julia looked at Eiji as he examined his hand. "Did the pain die down a little?"

Eiji was about to reply when his left hand started shaking uncontrollably. Grasping hold of his arm, Eiji tried desperately to stop it from moving.

"What is it?" Julia asked.

"I don't know!" Eiji cried as he tightened his grip on his arm. "It's almost as if my arm wants to continue attacking!"

Julia's eyes widened. "The fire element wasn't satisfied with the attack you did! It's craving more!"

Eiji finally got the fire element to calm down, and his arm stopped shaking. "I'll have to avoid using these elements as much as possible." He said.

"We need to continue on, Eiji! Rasputin said he'd meet up with us in the basement after he got eliminated!" Julia said, grabbing Eiji's arm.

Eiji nodded as the two ran off, continuing their trek down the hallway.

After the two were gone, a lone man wearing a Shogun helmet rounded a different corner. He approached the intersection of hallways and looked around frantically. Finally deciding on which way to go, he ran off in the direction Eiji and Julia had just come from.

"Must…Find…Lilly Kane…" Sodom panted. "I must…Save her…"

**(The Arena) **

Dan wasn't really liking his chances anymore. Both Mika and Ryoko had been eliminated, leaving him to face Geese all by himself.

Geese saw Dan's fear and smirked evilly. Dan leapt at Geese in a flying kick, and at the last second, Geese put his hand up.

Dan's foot made contact with Geese's hand, but the evil man then grabbed him and slammed him into the canvas. Dan tiredly got up and looked up at Geese.

Geese smirked cockily. "Young fool. You have no chance whatsoever in beating me." He said. "Just face it."

The pink-clad man narrowed his eyes. "No way! I can still take you out!" Dan shouted.

"Heh. C'mon." Geese said, motioning for Dan to come forward.

Dan charged again, this time executing his triple kick. Geese again raised his hand, countering the attack. Dan once again found himself on the canvas, lying on his back.

Rolling backwards and jumping into a standing position, Dan thought to himself. {If Geese keeps this up, I'm toast! I need to find out a way to beat him!}

Suddenly, Dan's luck made a turn for the better. A stray laser bolt (from the Stormtrooper) ricocheted off of Cecile's shield and struck the unprepared Geese in the back. As Geese recoiled in pain, Dan took his chance and ran at Geese, performing an uppercut to his chin.

Geese flew back several feet and landed on his back, but quickly jumped up. When he saw Dan, he noticed that the pink-clad man was writing his name down on a picture of himself.

Smirking at the easy elimination, Geese charged forward in another Deadly Rave.

Just as Geese came within range, Dan cancelled the autograph and pulled his hand back.

"Shinkuu…Gadouken!"

You see, one of the things that sets Dan apart from the other Street Fighters is that he had the ability to cancel out of the autograph and do another move. This meant that he could pull off an unexpected super.

Geese, however, didn't know that.

The audience watched in disbelief as Geese took the full blast from Dan's super and flew straight out of the arena.

Geese landed in a very familiar tower. He got up and dusted himself off.

"Geeeeeeeeese…."

Turning around, Geese saw a much younger Terry Bogard (the Final Fight 1 version) charging at him.

"Yeah!" Dan shouted, shoving his fists into the air. "Who da man? I da man! You da man? You can't be da man cause I da man!"

People cheered Dan on like crazy, seeing as he just eliminated one of the stronger fighters in the tournament.

Goh also noticed this and came over to the pink-clad man. "So, you think you're 'da man', eh?" He asked.

"Well, I DID just eliminate Geese Howard there." Dan shrugged.

"So?"

"He's the most powerful character in his node."

"So?"

"I eliminated him."

"And?"

"That makes me 'da man'!" Dan replied, striking a heroic pose. He quickly dropped out of it. "Although I kinda need to get out of here now that my friends are gone."

Goh smirked. "Can I eliminate you, then?"

"Well, I-"

"Gee, what a pal!" Goh shouted as he grabbed Dan and threw him out of the arena.

Dan landed in Loony Toons B-Ball. Thanks to the pink-clad fighter landing on the opposing team, Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam were able to win the game.

**(Dome; Outside Recovery Room) **

"Now we have to wait for Dan as well." Vivian sighed. "This is going to take forever."

"I still can't believe that all three of the fighters in our group get eliminated in the same section." Lucky shook his head.

**(The Arena) **

Cecile swung her spear, but her opponent, the Stormtrooper, ducked under it. Spinning on the ground, the white-clad foot soldier knocked Cecile off her feet and onto her back.

The blonde girl leapt onto her feet and glared at the Stormtrooper. Said armoured man pulled out his rifle and fired three laser shots at Cecile, each aim at a different part of her body. Using her quick reflexes, Cecile was able to block all three shots.

"You're a good fighter, I'll give you that." The Stormtrooper said. "If you weren't so young, you would make an excellent addition to the empire."

"Something tells me that's an evil organization." Cecile said. "I wouldn't be interested anyway."

The Stormtrooper shrugged and leveled his rifle at Cecile's head. "Very well. That was the last mistake you'll ever make."

A bolt of red laser shot from the barrel of the Stormtrooper's rifle and shot at Cecile. The young girl couldn't get her shield up in time and took the blow. However, the laser struck the top of her helmet and bounced into the air, blowing out one of the lights above the arena.

Cecile opened here eyes, then narrowed them. She charged forward and swung her spear with all her might. The Stormtrooper, unprepared for Cecile to remain unharmed from his last attack, took the blow. The power from Cecile's swing sent the Stormtrooper out of the park and through the elimination vortex.

**(Death Star) **

Darth Vader stroked his masked chin. "Well, it was to be expected."

Suddenly, he heard a strange noise coming from behind him. Darth Vader turned his chair around, half expecting to see Luke Skywalker rushing him with his lightsaber. What he saw instead was his loyal Stormtrooper falling out of a portal and landing on the floor.

"Hmm. Well, what do you know?" Darth Vader said. "It seems THIS node is the random elimination node this time."

Hearing the voice, the Stormtrooper jumped up and stood at attention. "L-Lord Vader!" He stuttered. "I beg forgiveness for not winning the competition, sir."

"Don't worry. I wasn't expecting you to win, so I am not disappointed." Darth Vader replied. "However, I must admit that I am impressed with your success in the ring."

The Stormtrooper nodded. "Thank you so much, sir."

"Well, now that I have tested this tournament out, I should start considering entering next year." Darth Vader mused as he turned his chair back to the screen to continue watching the tournament.

**(The Arena) **

There were now only seven fighters left in the arena, and they were all cautiously looking at each other. Kula's hair was slightly messed up, but she was otherwise alright. Duck looked slightly worse, a couple of bruises on his face. Kazuya brushed off his purple tux, not taking his eyes off anyone. Goh had his fists raised, repeatedly telling himself in his mind not to attack Kung Pow. Said Clayfighter grinned toothily as he fingered a pair of chopsticks in his hand. Cecile sweated nervously, really starting to hope the next Suikoden fighter would enter soon. Finally, Luigi breathed in and out as he readied his fists for the next wave of fighters.

Which would be coming out incredibly soon.

**RESULTS**

LUIGI MARIO (SSB)

CECILE (S3)

KUNG POW (CF63 1/3)

KULA DIAMOND (KOF)

DUCK KING (FF)

GOH HINOGAMI (VF)

KAZUYA MISHIMA (T5)

**(ELIMINATED)**

CHARLOTTE (SS)

DAN HIBIKI (SFA3)

RYOKO (WH)

RAINBOW MIKA (SFA3)

RASPUTIN (WH)

GEESE HOWARD (FF)

STORMTROOPER (SW)

PEGGI (S3)

MAGNETO (MC)

SGT. JOE (S3)

HINAKO (KOF)

CHIN GENSAI (KOF)

KAEDE (LB)

_**BONUS MATCHES: **_

"**K's Vengeance" **

K' (KOF) _**sets fire to**_ M. BISON (SFA3)

"**Two New Patients" **

FAUST (GG) _**slices and dices**_ VICE and MATURE (KOF)

Eliminations: Luigi, Cecile and Kung Pow, 2; Kula, Duck, Goh, Kazuya, Charlotte, Dan and Ryoko, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: R. Mika (8), King (7), Bruce Irvin (6), Peach Toadstool (5), Lucky Glauber (5), Chang Koehan (5), Heavy D! (5)

**At Long Last:** Kazuya gets an elimination in this round, finally making the number of Tekken fighters to get one go to two.


	26. Section Twelve

**(The Arena) **

The seven fighters in the arena continued to rest, unsure as to whom was going to enter the arena next. Suddenly, they heard the crowd cheering. Turning to the entrance curtain, they saw the next fighter coming out.

"**RUGAL BERENSTIEN!" (KOF) **

The one-eyed villain came out to a positive crowd reaction. Rugal looked around the arena and smirked. No one in the arena looked particularly threatening, especially since R. Mika had already been eliminated.

When Rugal hit the arena, he noticed Kazuya Mishima. Thinking Kazuya, the son of Heihachi, to be an ally, Rugal went over to him.

"Excuse me, but you ARE Heihachi's son, am I right?" Rugal asked.

A foot was instantly driven into Rugal's face.

"I am, but I will not hear ANYTHING about that heartless jerk!" Kazuya roared. "You know him, don't you? Then you're in for a world of hurt, buddy!"

"**NINA WILLIAMS!" (T5) **

Nina was extremely confused. She had seen Anna wandering around the dome, talking to people such as Vega and Setsuna. However, she didn't remember Anna actually being INVITED to the tournament to begin with. This either meant that Anna was simply coming to watch the tournament and have fun or there was something big going on and Anna was in on it.

"_Somehow,"_ Nina thought as she jumped into the arena. _"I don't think it's the former."_

Nina's first instincts were to go help Kazuya, but when she saw him screaming psychotically while beating the tar out of the strange man in the red tux, she decided to look for a challenge in Goh Hinogami.

"**VENOM!" (MC) **

The cheer for Venom was louder than anyone else in the Marvel node thus far. Venom stepped outside of the entrance curtain, shot a line of web to a beam above the arena and did a web swing over the ropes and into the ring.

Landing in the arena, Venom looked around. "We shall prove that we can dominate the tournament and become the winners, destroying everyone in our way!" He shouted. "No one else shall hold a candle to our might!"

Luigi cracked his knuckles and approached. "We'll soon see about that."

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Heavy D! ran down the hallway with his newfound allies behind him. He was currently trying to get to the lobby of the hotel to meet up with part of the group that was waiting there.

"How many are in this group?" Sagat asked. "We'll need a lot to take down Bison."

"Believe me, there's a lot." D! replied. "I think we can do this."

"Hopefully, we can pull this off before these youngsters get hurt." Jacky said.

"Quite right, fellow freedom fighter!" Chang added. "We shall vanquish these evildoers and save those poor children!"

The decent-sized group continued running down the hallway a little longer when a wave of fire shot from the side and slammed into Heavy D!. The black boxer roared in pain as he collapsed to one knee.

"D!" Clark shouted as he and Falco helped D! to his feet. "What the heck was that?"

"That would have come from me!"

The group turned and saw Ash Crimson stepping into view.

Clark's eyes narrowed. "Why am I not surprised you're in on this, Crimson?"

Ash shrugged with a smirk, then got straight to the point. "I have orders to kill you, my friend. I'll see to it that I succeed."

"You and what army?" Watari asked, holding his sword cautiously.

Ash smirked cockily. "Why, THIS army."

With a snap of his fingers, several more figures joined Ash: Yuber, Toad, Mystique, Balrog, Earthquake, Gen-An and Heihachi Mishima. Then, to the good fighters' surprise, came Roy, Seth, Borus, Percival, Jin Chonshu and Marrow.

"What the heck?" Falco asked. "You guys are supposed to be on our side!"

Ryu held Falco back with one arm. "It must be Bison's work. He has been known to have the ability to warp people's minds."

Sagat nodded. "He did this with Cammy and the rest of the dolls. He's done it again."

"Then let's put a stop to this!" Clark cracked his knuckles.

"IF you live that long." Heihachi said. "Okay, team. Let's take 'em out!"

"Ah, yes. It is finally time for me to show my true power." Ash said with a smirk.

"That wasn't your true power you showed in the ring?" Jack asked with an equally-big smirk.

Ash narrowed his eyes. "You die first. En guard!"

**(The Arena) **

"**DHALSIM!" (SFA3) **

Dhalsim didn't need to come out of the entrance curtain. He simply teleported into the arena and started attacking the first person he saw. That was Rugal Berenstien, whom Kazuya was still pounding into the ground.

Kazuya glared at the skinny monk. "I don't need any help with this guy, thank you very much."

Dhalsim shrugged. "Whatever you say." He then shot his fist at Kung Pow (whom was on the other side of the arena) and stretched his arm out to nail the goofy Clayfighter in the jaw.

"**HAOHMARU!" (SS) **

"And here comes Haohmaru, Samurai Showdown's lead character." SSBFreak announced.

"I often wonder how much money he ends up spending on hairgel…" Unknown1 mused.

The crazy-haired fighter came out to traditional, oriental music as he walked down to the arena. He stopped partway down to look around.

"Hmm…Each fighter is skilled in some way or another." Haohmaru observed. "I guess I can go challenge that Chinese man with the funny hair. He looks like he could pose the biggest challenge." And so, Haohmaru entered the arena, drew his sword and went over to challenge Kung Pow.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Of course, no one in the Eliminated Seating was really paying attention to what Haohmaru was doing. This was because as soon as Haohmaru's name was announced, Genjuro got up, ran over to the barrier and started screaming murder at his sworn rival.

Fuuma looked at Genjuro's show and shook his head. "Look at that guy. Screaming at his rival like it's the most important thing in his life. You won't catch ME doing anything like that."

**(The Arena) **

"**HANZOU!" (WH) **

Almost instantly, Fuuma was right beside Genjuro and joined him in screaming murder and certain words that would make the rating for this fanfic go up.

Hanzou was mildly amused at this, but continued down to the arena. Upon his landing, he went over to challenge Duck, and would've made it there had Cecile accidentally beaned him with her shield.

Holding his head in pain, Hanzou glared down at Cecile, whom looked nervous.

"S-Sorry, sir! It was a total accident! Honest!" Cecile stammered, not really wanting to get on a ninja's bad side.

Hanzou put up his fists. "Save it."

Most people were so focused on Genjuro and Fuuma still shouting at their rivals (as security was now taking them away), that they didn't notice the familiar spotlight shining on the entrance curtain.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**TWELVE**!"

"**GABBY JAY!" (Super Punch Out!) **

The crowd, surprisingly, applauded decently for the old boxer that emerged from the curtain. Gabby Jay looked around in disbelief.

"Th-They're cheering for me…They're actually cheering for me!" Gabby said excitedly. "This is my big chance to prove myself!"

Gabby leapt into the arena and instantly went for the fight Nina was having with Goh. The old man wound up his fist as he ran and thrust it out, slamming Goh with enough force to send him across the arena.

Nina marveled at the sight. "Wow. That was some punch." She complimented. "I'm impressed."

Gabby looked at his glove, not really believing that he did that himself. "So am I."

**(Announcer's Booth) **

Unknown1 looked at SSBFreak. "You invited GABBY JAY?"

"Yeah? So?"

"He's the first freaking opponent you fight in Super Punch Out! Couldn't you have gotten someone a little more talented?"

"Hey, now. I tried looking for the most popular fighter in the game. Bald Bull wouldn't do it, Mad Clown was busy and Super Macho Man was posing for a magazine." SSBFreak explained.

"Well, why not invite Nick Bruiser? He's the final opponent in the game."

"Do you know how much hate mail we'd get if we invited that overpowered, unoriginal jerk to the tournament?"

"Yeah. I guess you're right….But still, GABBY JAY?"

**(Hotel; Lobby) **

"Man! Where the heck are they?" Reed complained as he paced back and forth.

"Be patient, Reed." Nei said. "Heavy D! is just getting some more allies and the others should be on their way back with Lucky."

"We need to get going, though." Guile grumbled. "If we're to have any chance at stopping Bison, we need to move fast."

The small group either sat or stood in the lobby, waiting for the others to show up. They had been waiting for the better part of ten minutes now and some of them, like Reed and Guile, were growing impatient.

"He's right, Nei." Chonrei sighed. "If we don't hurry, Bison's plan may succeed and none of us really want that to happen."

Suddenly, the group caught someone coming into the lobby. It was a tall man dressed in black, with short hair. The group had a hard time figuring out which colour was the man's natural hair colour, as the top of his hair was blonde while the sides were black. He had a pretty large and insane grin on his face and walked with one hand in his pocket.

"Who the heck is that?" Samus asked.

"Ryuji Yamazaki." Chonrei explained. "He's a thug that does anything for money."

"You think he's working for Bison?"

"Wouldn't be surprised."

Meanwhile, Yamazaki was pleased with his luck. Bison had offered him a large sum of money to help him out, so it was definitely an offer he couldn't refuse. And the job that he had seemed so easy!

{Easiest cash I ever made.} Yamazaki thought as he made his way to the elevator.

Suddenly, the thug saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him turn his head: A blonde man with a strange hairstyle coming over to him. A sword dangled at his side.

"May I help you?" Yamazaki asked with a smirk.

"I'll get straight to the point." Reed explained. "Do you know anything about Bison?"

Knowing what Reed was talking about, Yamazaki smirked even bigger. "And what if I do?" He toyed.

Yamazaki suddenly found himself staring down the blade of a long, thin sword. Reed narrowed his eyes. "Then I'll force the info out of you."

"Oh. I get what you're saying." Yamazaki chuckled. "You have a death wish."

**(The Arena) **

"**KIM SUE IL!" (KE) **

Staff in hand, Kim Sue ran down to the ring, getting ready to take out any villain he came across. Right now, that was only Rugal, although Kazuya and Venom were also possibilities.

Landing in the arena, Kim Sue was about to make a run at Rugal when Duck rolled up, followed closely by P-Chan.

"Hey, man! Wanna fight?" Duck asked.

"Uh…"

"Great!" Duck rolled at the descendant of Kim Kapwhan.

"**SHABON!" (S3) **

Loud cheers arose for the youngest competitor in the tournament. The little girl waved to the crowd and ran down to the arena. As she jumped in, Shabon landed a flying kick to Haohmaru's back.

Haohmaru turned around. "Yes?"

"Hi! Shabon wishes to fight you!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You're only a little girl."

"Aw, c'mon!" Shabon pouted.

Rugal, seeing Shabon enter, kicked Kazuya off of him. Remembering that Shabon was one of the targets, he advanced.

"**DONKEY KONG!" (SSB) **

"_He's the leader of the bunch" _

"_You know him well" _

"_He's finally back" _

"_To kick some tail!" _

"_His coconut gun" _

"_Can fire in spurts" _

"_If he shoots ya" _

"_It's gonna hurt!" _

"_He's bigger, faster and stronger too" _

"_It's the first member of the DK Crew" _

"_Huh!"_

The huge ape burst out from behind the curtain, dancing to the (in)famous 'DK Rap'. A good amount of the audience clapped the beat as DK started dancing down to the ring showing that he was indeed a 'hip-hop masta monkey'.

"_D-K!" _

"_Donkey Kong!" _

"_D-K!" _

"_Donkey Kong is here!"_

DK leapt into the arena and made a mad dash to help Luigi. The green-clad plumber knocked Kula away and saw the large ape coming over. "Hey, DK! You up for some double-teaming?"

The large simian pounded his chest and let out a loud ape cry, clearly agreeing.

**(SSB Locker Room) **

"We're doing pretty well." Captain Falcon nodded as he watched the monitor. "Only a select few of us got eliminated easily."

"I'm pretty confident that one of us can actually win this thing." Fox agreed.

"You're probably saying that because you got such a late draw."

"Sooooo?"

Meanwhile, Ness and Mewtwo sat aside, each in deep thought and in total silence. Aside from the light snoring still coming from Zelda, their part of the Locker Room was completely silent.

"Mewtwo?"

"Yeah?"

"I've got a really bad feeling that something's gonna happen."

"I know. I sense it too."

**(The Arena) **

"**GUY!" (SFA3) **

The orange-clad ninja jumped out from behind the curtain and sprinted down to the ring. When Guy landed, he quickly ran over to Rugal and kicked him in the back. This gave Kazuya time to grab Rugal and slam him into the canvas again.

Seeing his job done, Guy ran off and started a fight with Kula Diamond.

"Say. Aren't you that guy from Final Fight?" Kula asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Guy replied.

Kula shrugged. "No real reason. You were cool and all, but I tended to play as Cody more often."

Guy sighed.

"**VANESSA!" (KOF) **

The redhead woman came out from behind the curtain and went down into the ring. When she entered, Vanessa went over to Gabby Jay and punched him in the face. The old boxer, quickly retaliated with a blow to her stomach. Fortunately, Vanessa didn't feel the attack.

Unfortunately, this was mainly because Bison had warped her mind and she couldn't feel a thing.

The two boxers exchanged blows, each one hitting the other several times. Many people were amazed that Gabby had lasted as long as he had, even if it was only a few minutes.

Holding his jaw in pain, Gabby lashed out his right hand, nailing Vanessa with a hard hook.

"_Sun goes down into the west again" _

"_Night wind blowing through my hair"_

Venom's eyes lit up, recognizing the theme song and knowing who was entering next.

"_Starlight shin and moonlight glow" _

"_On the streets and out of control"_

Through a hole in the roof, a winged shadow fell over the arena.

"And now, the final fighter of this section…"

"_On the prowl till the sun comes up again…" _

"**LANDIS!" (S3) **

"_Alright! Alright!" _

"_Alright! Alright!" _

"_Come dusk I feel at home" _

"_Sun goes down, we rule the night!" _

"_Alright! Alright!" _

"_Alright! Alright!" _

"_An through the night I will roam" _

"_Sun goes down, we rule the night!"_

Letting out a loud 'YUH-HUH-HUH!', Landis swooped down from the hole in the roof and flew into the arena rather than use the entrance curtain. The song playing in the background was Squad Five *O playing 'We Rule the Night'.

Venom went over to greet his new friend as he touched down.

"Landis! We are glad to see you enter the same section as we did!" Venom said.

"Heh-heh. No problem." Landis said. "Now let's waste everyone here!"

"Alright!" Venom shoute, pumping his fist into the air.

Landis raised his scythe into the air as a creepy and insane look appeared in his eye.

"THE GRIM REAPER WILL KILL YOU ALL!"

Landis charged.


	27. Section Twelve Results

**(The Arena) **

The first thing Landis did once he landed in the arena was help Venom with Donkey Kong. The Grim-Reaper fanatic swung his giant scythe at the oversized ape, but the funky monkey saw the attack coming and jumped over it as it sailed underneath his body.

Once he landed, DK swung a giant fist and connected it with Landis' face, firing the Winghorde to another part of the arena.

In fact, he collided with Goh. Said assassin glared coldly at the crazed lunatic.

"What seems to be your problem?" Goh asked. "Looks like I'll have to teach you a lesson."

Landis smirked. "The Grim Reaper shall destroy you." He chuckled.

Rugal wasn't really in the best of moods at the moment. Shabon was now in the arena (fighting Haohmaru) and it was his mission to eliminate her so Bison's men could abduct her, but he didn't have the chance to go after her. This was mainly because Kazuya was kicking the tar out of him, furious that he had just met a colleague of his father, the man he hated the most.

Kazuya crouched low and spun around with a leg outstretched, knocking Rugal off his feet. The younger Mishima quickly grabbed Rugal, hauled him to his feet and thrust his fist into his stomach. Kazuya then grabbed Rugal's arm and flipped him over his shoulder.

Rugal, having enough of this, leapt to his feet and pulled his hands back. Sending his arms forward, Rugal fired a projectile that looked very similar to Krauser's Kaiser Wave at Kazuya. The black-haired man wasn't expecting this and took the blow head-on. The sheer power of Rugal's attack sent Kazuya back several feet.

The evil man smirked as he walked over to Kazuya, whom was just getting to his feet again.

"You caught me off guard, there." Kazuya said. "I'm impressed. Not a lot of people can catch me off guard."

Rugal flashed an evil grin. "Then I shall continue to do so until I eliminate you."

Kazuya put up his fists. "I wouldn't get so cocky if I were you."

**(Eliminated Seating) **

"Hmm…We've got three representatives in the arena again." Geddoe stroked his chin. "And all of them might be able to do well."

"AND Cecile's got two eliminations already." Mel pointed out. "We may be able to do better than we thought!"

Geddoe nodded before looking around. He then looked at Queen. "Where's Joker?"

"He's gone to the bar with a few friends." Queen explained. "He's been gone for a while now."

"Man. This is REALLY going to hurt our wallets."

**(Dome; Outside Recovery Room) **

Dan opened the door to the Recovery Room and walked outside. He suddenly saw the rest of the group, along with Mika and Ryoko, waiting for him.

"Took you long enough, man." Lucky sighed. "Okay, now that we're all here, can we go to the Lobby and meet up with the others?"

Vivian double-checked the monitor to make sure no one in the strike team was in the arena, then turned back to Lucky. "Yep. Everyone's here."

Lucky nodded. "Okay! Let's go!"

With that, everyone turned and ran off down the hallway to meet up with the others.

Had any of them stuck around just a few seconds longer, they would have seen Sodom stagger down another hallway, panting something about finding Lily Kane.

**(The Arena) **

Hanzou's fist swung at Cecile, who ducked to avoid the blow. The blue-clad ninja quickly thrust his foot out, but Cecile quickly rolled out of the way.

In all honesty, the only reason Cecile hadn't attacked was because she didn't want to hurt her opponent. But she knew that no matter how much she would try to reason, Hanzou would still press the attack due to the fact that he was still mad with her for hitting him with her shield.

But she still tried anyway. "Look! Can't we just stop this?" She asked. "I don't want to fight!"

"All the easier for me." Hanzou replied. "Now, come on! Start fighting!"

"No! I don't want to hurt you!"

"You won't hurt me." Hanzou said confidently. "You should be more worried about yourself."

Cecile sighed. "Okay. But just remember that you asked for it."

Hanzou swung his fist again…

*CLANG!*

And struck Cecile's shield with it. Hanzou howled in pain as he gripped his hand. This made him an easy target for Cecile to boot out of the arena.

Hanzou landed in Soul Caliber. Thinking that he was an enemy ninja, Taki ran in for the kill.

Luigi ducked as Dhalsim's fist soared over his head. Although the fact that the rubbery Street Fighter was actually on the other side of the arena when he did it confused Luigi, the green-clad plumber decided to continue the fight.

Dhalsim lashed out his fist again, sending it across the arena. Luigi lashed out a fireball, striking Dhalsim's fist before it could reach his head. Dhalsim pulled his hand back in pain as Luigi rushed over, seeing his chance.

Once he got close enough, Luigi threw himself at Dhalsim, hoping to push him over the ropes. However, Dhalsim saw him coming and bent his body in a way that Luigi would sail right past him. Luigi was unable to stop himself and ran into the ropes, flying between two of them, starting his fall towards the elimination vortex.

Luckily, Luigi caught one of the ropes with his hand, stopping him from falling to his elimination. The green-clad plumber pulled himself back into the arena, stood up and stared down Dhalsim. Without looking, Luigi snapped his fingers and created a green flame in his hand.

"Your skill with fire is impressive, friend." Dhalsim commented. "However, mine is better."

"So you can control fire, eh?" Luigi asked. "Well, let's see what you've got, Mr. Fantastic."

Luigi, in all honesty, was expecting Dhalsim to use his hands to throw a ball of fire. However, when he saw the rubbery Street Fighter take a deep breath, Luigi decided to run.

A huge stream of fire (much like the one Joker performed back in Section Eight) shot forth from Dhalsim's mouth. Because Luigi had seen this coming, he started running, hoping to avoid the flames. Dhalsim saw this and started turning in place, trying to fry Luigi with the fire.

Instead of burning Luigi, the flames spread around the rest of the arena, at everyone else in the arena. Cecile and Kung Pow blocked the fire with a shield and frying pan respectively, Kula froze the flames that came at her, Venom and Landis took to the air and Guy used his 'ninja skillz' to balance on top of one of the turnbuckles at the corner of the arena. Everyone else had to really move to avoid getting burned (although Haohmaru ended up with his hair on fire).

Much like what had happened with Dee Jay and Mario earlier in the tournament, the sprinkler system kicked in, drenching the arena with water. Because of all the water falling, Dhalsim's fire attack was put out. The elastic monk stood straight and looked around the arena for Luigi.

"Maybe he jumped out of the arena when he realized he was backed into a corner." Dhalsim mused.

"Not likely!"

Dhalsim turned just in time to see Luigi throwing his fist at his face. The loud crack that followed echoed throughout the arena as Dhalsim flew out of the arena. He tried to extend his arms to grab the arena and pull himself back in, but Dhalsim missed and flew into the elimination portal.

Dhalsim landed in Sly Cooper, on top of the head of Clockwerk. Despite the fact that Sly Cooper was bombarding the huge, mechanical owl Dhalsim was sitting on with fire, the rubber man wasn't aware and sat down.

The first thing Venom did when he landed on the arena canvas again was continue his fight with Guy. The orange-clad ninja rushed at the human/alien and lashed out his foot. Venom easily caught the kick, but wasn't prepared for the punch the followed directly after it.

Venom staggered back as he held his jaw. "Very quick, human. We didn't see that one coming." The black mutant said.

"Instead of asking why you always talk as though there are more than one of you, I'll thank you for the compliment." Guy said, not dropping his guard.

"Heh. Now GET OVER HERE!"

"Copyright infringement! Copyright infringement!" Scorpion shouted from the Eliminated Seating.

Venom shoved his hand out, firing a lie of webbing at Guy. "Heehee. We always wanted to say that."

Venom's webbing connected with Guy, and Venom reeled him in. However, he quickly saw that what the webbing was wrapped around was not Guy but instead a log.

"Stupid ninjas." Venom said as he looked around the arena, wondering where Guy had gone.

Venom suddenly got his answer, as Guy dove down from the light rafters hanging above the arena. Because of all the rain still falling from the sprinkler system, Guy was harder to see, but Venom was able to spot him.

Just not quick enough. Guy landed a hard kick to the back of Venom's head, making him stagger forward.

"We must admit that you are persistent." Venom said. "But we SHALL be victorious!"

"Bring it on!"

Haohmaru suddenly ran between them, screaming about the fire currently going in his hair. That was like a starting bell for Guy and Venom, as they lunged at each other once Haohmaru had passed.

The two exchanged blows for a bit, but that ended as soon as Venom lashed out with his claws, scratching Guy in the stomach. The orange-clad ninja packed away, clutching his stomach in pain.

"You'll pay for that one." Guy said as he jumped at Venom.

Venom smirked.

**(Marvel Locker Room) **

"Bye-bye, Guy." Spiderman sighed, folding his arms.

**(The Arena) **

"DEATH BITE!"

Two mouths launched from the ground at Venom's feet and bit at Guy with their sharp teeth. Guy, not expecting this, took the attack and flew back a little bit. Venom rushed at the airborne Guy, leapt into the air after him and delivered a hard kick, firing Guy out of the arena.

In the crowd, Mike Haggar wondered how BOTH Cody and Guy could be eliminated so easily.

Guy landed a casino of some kind. The orange-clad ninja stood up and walked away, unaware of Danny Ocean and the rest of his crew preparing to rob the place. People may have found the sight of Guy appearing out of nowhere strange, but they were all focused on the Malloy brothers, screaming at each other, making a distraction.

Eventually, the water still falling from the sprinkler system put out the fire in Haohmaru's hair. The strangest thing was that despite the fact that his hair had been on fire for about two minutes, none of it was actually burned off.

Well, using a full tin of hair gel at once can do that.

Haohmaru smirked. "Well, now that I've got that under control, I should start a fight again." He looked at the remaining contestants in the arena. "But whom should I fight?"

Someone suddenly landed a flying kick to Haohmaru's back.

Haohmaru turned and saw little Shabon staring up at him, in a fighting stance. "Please. I've told you already that I do not wish to fight you."

"What for?" Shabon asked. "You afraid?"

"On the contrary, it's because I'm an armed adult and you're a mere child." Haohamaru replied. "I would slaughter you."

"No, you wouldn't!" Shabon replied. "In fact, Shabon thinks she could kick your butt!"

Haohmaru looked down at the little girl. "You think you could take me? Okay. Let's see what you've got."

"Yay!" Shabon shouted in glee as she kicked Haohmaru in the leg and charged her Wind Rune.

Shabon swung her fists several times, and each of the swings struck Haohmaru's sword, doing no damage to the master swordsman at all.

Because she was so young, Haohmaru held back. He figured that he greatly outclassed Shabon in strength due to him being so much older and didn't need to show his full potential.

However, Shabon had a severe trick up her sleeve.

Shabon leapt over Haohmaru's sword as it went underneath her. By the time she landed on her feet, her Wind Rune was fully charged.

The small dancer jumped back and lashed out her hand. Haohmaru watched in shock as a small twister sprouted from the canvas. The twister quickly reached the wild-haired swordsman, whom was too stunned to move out of the way.

Haohmaru was swept up into the small twister and spun around wildly. The twister kept going until it reached the edge of the arena, where it launched Haohmaru over the ropes and out of the ring.

"Yay! Shabon got an elimination!" Shabon shouted, jumping into the air excitedly. "Now she, Nei and Toppo each do well!"

In the Eliminated Seating, Toppo smiled in satisfaction.

Haohmaru landed in Army Men. General Plastro, thinking he was an enemy, ordered his men to start bombing the samurai.

Yet another very stupid mistake made.

**(Hotel; Lobby) **

Reed lifted his sword, blocking the swing of a dagger. The owner of the dagger, psychotic gangster Ryuji Yamazaki, smirked evilly as he lashed out with his free hand, striking Reed in the face.

The Tinto swordsman staggered back, holding his face. Yamazaki used this to his advantage and shoved his foot at Reed's stomach. Reed snapped out of his daze in time to see the foot coming. Reed quickly grabbed Yamazaki's foot and twisted it, lifting the thug off his other foot, spinning in the air. Yamazaki landed on his back as Reed grabbed his discarded sword and walked over to the fallen thug.

Yamazaki looked up in time to see Reed swinging his sword. In the blink of an eye, Yamazaki had his dagger raised, blocking the attack. He smirked up at the blonde swordsman. "You're fast. I'll give you that. However, I'm faster."

"Oh, really?" Reed asked.

"Yeah! Really!" While Reed wasn't paying attention, Yamazaki lashed his foot out again, slamming it into Reed's stomach, this time being successful. Reed gripped his stomach with the hand that wasn't wielding the sword and backed away a couple of steps as Yamazaki jumped to his feet.

"Should we help him?" J. Maxx asked.

"No. Let's see if he can take care of this himself." Chonrei replied. "If Reed can beat Yamazaki on his own, I'd say he'll be ready for anything Bison dishes out."

Reed honestly wasn't sure of his chances anymore. Sure, he was one of the best soldiers Tinto had to offer, but he was up against a ruthless psycho that seemed almost as much a lunatic as Yuber. Yamazaki was dishing out moves that caught Reed completely off guard, and he wasn't sure if he could actually beat him now.

"You may as well give up now, pal." Yamazaki said with a smug grin. "I'm way better than you."

"I'm still gonna try!" Reed said determinedly. "And if there's one thing I hate more than selfish brats named Lilly Pendragon, it's people that think they're better than everyone else."

Yamazaki merely shrugged, although he didn't take the grin from his face. "I'm just telling it like it is."

The two rushed each other again, swinging their respective weapons at the same time. The two weapons clashed, creating a few sparks when they made contact.

Yamazaki gave off a yawn. "It was fun for about twenty seconds, but now this fight bores me."

The psychotic gangster rushed forward, swinging his dagger wildly. Reed held up his sword and blocked the slashes that came at him. After the fifth time his dagger clashed against Reed's sword, Yamazaki lashed out his fist again, nailing Reed in the face, harder than the first time. This was enough to send Reed to the floor.

Deciding to end the fight, Yamazaki bent over, with one hand in his pocket. His other hand dangled limply just above the ground.

"…Ikuzo…"

Reed slowly stood to his feet.

"…Ikuzo…"

Now standing upright, Reed held his head for a few seconds.

"…_Ikuzo…" _

Seeing his last chance, Reed rushed forward.

"SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Reed wasn't quick enough. Yamazaki's Snake Arm move was a direct hit. The psychotic gangster lashed out with the fist that had previously been dangling in the air, snapping it at Reed's face.

Yamazaki's fist cracked against Reed's head, making him stop. Reed stood in silence for a few seconds before collapsing to his knees, then to his stomach, where he lay unconscious.

"Reed!" Nei and Samus shouted as everyone ran over to their fallen friend.

Samus arrived and tried waking Reed up. He sighed. "You know, Reed? Sometimes, your ideas border on a death wish. You know that, don't you?"

Yamazaki smirked as Samus and Guile tried to haul Reed to his feet. "Let that be a lesson." Yamazaki said. "Don't mess with me."

Leaving everyone else, Yamazaki casually walked out of the Lobby as if nothing had happened.

**(The Arena) **

The sprinklers had finally stopped spraying water all over the arena, so most of the fighting was getting back to normal. Goh and Kung Pow were still in their little alliance, fighting Kula as a team, although Cecile was running in to assist the ice girl. The brainwashed Vanessa was currently taking on Nina Williams and Shabon, and was looking like she was losing. Venom and Landis were chasing Kim Sue Il around the arena together as Luigi, Duck King and Gabby Jay were exchanging blows.

Kazuya continued whaling on Rugal, and wasn't showing any signs of slowing down. Rugal was trying to find some way to get away from the psychotic mass murderer so he could continue his mission and eliminate Shabon.

"_Had I known this guy hated Heihachi so much, I wouldn't have gone to him first."_ Rugal thought as Kazuya kicked him in the head. _"Why is it that we've been getting cursed with bad luck in the ring thus far? I just don't get it."_

The mad Mishima roared and swung his foot again. Rugal was aware enough to duck under the blow, providing him a long-awaited opening. Leaping into the air, Rugal kicked Kazuya twice with immense power, sending the black-haired man across the arena.

Rugal stood straight and smoothed out his tuxedo. "Now to get back to the mission." He said to himself.

Suddenly, a huge hand grabbed Rugal's head from behind and slammed him into the ground. Although Rugal was confused as to whom could have such a big hand, the loud, Tarzan-like cry that followed gave the identity away.

Rugal stood up and turned, finding himself staring at Donkey Kong, whom was beating his hands against his chest.

"I must admit that you Smash Brothers are an interesting bunch." Rugal said, getting into his stance. "I have to say that I've never seen anyone much like most of your little group."

DK decided to take that as a compliment and smiled.

"You all fight together, and yet you all fight so differently. Such an amazing amount of unique talent I haven't seen in years." Rugal continued. "In fact, if you lot had chosen the right side, I would have welcomed you to work for me. I'm not easily impressed, but your group has shown an impressive amount of talent and so much that I wish we had more of you helping us. However, there's one thing that you all have in common: You're all incredibly annoying."

It was then that Rugal noticed what Donkey Kong was doing during his little speech: Picking his ear. DK pulled his finger from his ear and scratched his head.

Rugal sighed. "Great. I get the stupidest one. Well, I suppose I must eliminate this nuisance now and be done with it." With that, Rugal charged forward.

And slipped on something after about three steps. Rugal spun into the air and landed on his back. Looking at what he had slipped on, Rugal saw the yellow peel of a banana. Looking up at DK in surprise, he saw the large simian peeling another banana, before quickly downing it in one gulp and tossing the peel behind his back (where Goh slipped on it).

Instead of asking where DK had gotten the bananas, Rugal jumped to his feet and pulled his hands back, charging up an attack. At the same time, DK started winding up a fist.

Once his power had reach its full potential, Rugal lashed out both hands, firing an energy projectile at the huge monkey. However, Donkey Kong was smart enough to roll out of the way.

DK got into a standing position again and slapped the ground with all his might. And considering he's a half-ton ape, that's a lot of might to have. The force from DK's slap created a shockwave that sent anyone that was on the arena canvas (everyone but Landis, whom was flying) up into the air.

This included Rugal. While the evil man was in midair, DK leapt up after him and lashed out with his fully-charged fist. The sheer force and power of DK's Great Punch sent Rugal straight out of the arena.

Luigi walked over to his nodal companion, whom was raising his hands into the air, playing to the crowd. "That was a nice elimination, DK, but did you HAVE to attack me as well with that shockwave?"

DK looked down at Luigi and flashed a peace sign.

Rugal landed on a city street. Looking around, Rugal saw from the people's clothing and passing vehicles that he was somewhere in the 40's or 50's.

Suddenly, Rugal saw a little Chinese man standing beside him. "Does mysterious and utterly suspicious man have any idea that he is blocking road?" The Chinese man asked.

Rugal stood up, showing that the little Chinese man came up to his thigh. "I'm not exactly in the best of moods, so I think I'll take out my aggression on you."

The huge, toothy smirk never left the face of the squinting Chinese. "Oh, so you want to have lesson, hmm?" He grabbed Rugal's arm. "Observe."

No one walking on the streets paid any mind to the scene that followed, because they were so used to it by now. The little Chinese man, with one hand, was slamming Rugal onto the road on either side of him, and was doing it without any effort at all.

*WHAM!* "So sorry." *WHAM!* "Excuse, please." *WHAM!* "So sorry." *WHAM!* "Cannot oblige." *WHAM!* "So sorry." *WHAM!* "Begging your pardon." *WHAM!* "Ohohohoho! So sorry." *WHAM!*

Rugal was suddenly aware that he had landed in the node of the animated Dick Tracy series, and was being given the 'Joe Jitsu treatment'.

**(The Arena) **

Venom and Landis continued chasing Kim Sue Il around the arena, both of them with psychotic grins on their faces. The Kizuna Encounter fighter had been running for a while now, and he was starting to understand how Hayate was feeling earlier in the tournament. The only difference between the two instances was that instead of two ordinary men chasing him, bent on elimination, Kim Sue had two psychotic, inhuman lunatics chasing him as a team.

Deciding to do something about the two chasing him, Kim Sue did something incredibly brave (or incredibly stupid): He turned around and swatted Venom across the face with his staff.

This made the two psychos stop running (or flying, in Landis' case) as they stared at Kim Sue, whom was in his stance, preparing to take them both on if necessary.

Landis flew lower to the ground and landed on his feet. "You want to take him?" He asked with a smirk.

Venom looked at Landis and nodded. "We thank you, buddy."

"No problem. Now if you'll excuse me, the Grim Reaper sees another fight to charge into." With that, Landis lifted off the ground and swooped low at the fight between Shabon and Duck King. This left Venom to take on Kim Sue alone.

Not that it mattered.

Kim Sue lunged at Venom, hoping to do some damage. The black spider mutant lashed out with one fist, landing it against the Kizuna Encounter fighter's chin, making the Korean stagger back.

Venom grinned and waited for his opponent to do the next attack. Kim Sue narrowed his eyes. "I'll take you on! I'll eliminate you and finally prove that my node is great!"

"Show us, then." Venom said as he motioned for Kim Sue to commence.

"Okay then, I will!" With that, Kim Sue swung his staff at Venom, aiming for the chest area.

But before the staff made contact, it stopped. Kim Sue wondered what had happened, but suddenly saw his answer. Venom had caught the staff with his right hand and was now preventing it from going any further. Kim Sue started sweating, realizing that he was in deep trouble.

Venom pulled the staff above his head, taking Kim Sue with it. Then, Venom started spinning the staff and it's owner in circles in the air. After a few seconds, Venom released the staff, sending Kim Sue barreling through the arena.

Kim Sue plowed over Luigi, Kung Pow and Nina before reaching the edge of the arena. If he was going at normal speeds, the ropes around the arena would have stopped him, but because he was going so fast, the ropes snapped, leaving Kim Sue to fall headfirst into the vortex.

Kim Sue landed in Crono Trigger. Looking around, he saw Crono standing nearby with an unusual expression on his face.

The Kizuna Encounter fighter sighed. "Well, at least it'll be quiet here."

"**WHADDYA MEAN, QUIET?"** Crono shouted, making Kim Sue jump. **"I DON'T SEE HOW ANYTHING COULD BE QUIET HERE! DO YOU SEE ANYTHING THAT MAKES IT QUIET?" **

**(Announcer's Booth) **

SSBFreak and Unknown1 stared at the monitor in shock as Crono continued yelling at Kim Sue.

"What the heck happened to him?" Unknown1 asked.

"My guess is that Peggi got to him." SSBFreak shook his head. "Great."

**(The Arena) **

Shabon lashed out her hands at Duck, but all she managed to do was hit open air. Duck had jumped over Shabon's hands, clear over the small child and did a hand-plant on the canvas behind her. Duck spun around on his hands and sprang onto his feet, ending the dodge.

Duck stood straight, only to realize that he had taken too long to avoid Shabon's attack, as the small girl quickly drove her foot into the breakdancer's stomach. Duck slouched over in pain, grasping his stomach, as Shabon stood in a stance.

"You can move pretty fast, Mr. Duck, and your friend is really cute!" Shabon said, the last part directed at little P-Chan. "But Shabon can do better!"

"Really, now?" Duck asked. "Let's see what you've got, then!"

"Shabon says bring it!" Shabon said enthusiastically.

"Okay!"

Duck curled into a ball and rolled forward, straight at the small girl. Shabon quickly leapt on top of the rolling Duck and started running on top of him like a barrel. P-Chan, seeing his owner being used as a barrel, angrily chased after them.

Shabon suddenly noticed that Duck was rolling dangerously close to the snapped ropes Kim Sue had made during his exit only minutes earlier. She decided to fix that by starting to run on an angle, changing the direction to avoid elimination for both fighters.

"Look out!" Shabon shouted as she and Duck bowled over Kung Pow. "Shabon can't stop!"

The two continued rolling around the arena uncontrollably, much like Larcen Tyler from several sections ago. While most of the fighters managed to avoid getting run over or knocked aside, and the few that were knocked away were lucky enough not to get eliminated.

Soon, Duck was able to outstretch his hands during the roll. Trying to stop the uncontrollable roll, Duck slammed his hands into the canvas and almost instantly stopped rolling. This, however, launched Shabon from his back.

This wouldn't have posed a problem if he had been facing any of the three side of the arena with the ropes across them, but this side was the one with the snapped ropes. Because there was nothing to stop her, the small girl flew out of the arena.

Duck King unrolled and sat down, his head spinning.

In the Eliminated Seating, Toppo sighed, stood up and left the area to go pick Shabon up at the Recovery Room, taking the Master Sword with him.

As soon as Toppo left, Link arrived, coming from a completely different direction. He scanned the Eliminated Seating for Toppo and sighed. "Man. Where the heck is he? I need to find the Master Sword before Zelda kills me."

Shabon landed in Peanuts, where she beat Charlie Brown's baseball team all by herself.

Duck, in the meantime, groaned as he tried to regain his senses. In fact, he had been so out of it that he didn't hear the announcement crediting him for elimination.

"Oy." Duck said as he staggered to get to his feet. "Now THAT was a wild ride, P-Chan."

"GRIM REAPER!"

Duck spun around just in time for Landis to swoop into his stomach. P-Chan watched as Landis soared high into the air, his head still plowing into Duck's stomach. Once Landis got high enough, the Winghorde pulled away, dropping Duck about twenty feet into the elimination vortex. P-Chan quickly jumped out after his owner.

Duck landed in Dance Dance Revolution. Needless to say, he demolished the competition.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

"Fall before the might of 'The Koehan', evildoers!"

Heavy D! had actually been counting the amount of times Chang had shouted a random phrase about fighting evil (right now, he was up to about six), but he chose to ignore it as he slammed his fist into Heihachi's face.

The old man stepped back and growled. "You remind me of Steve Fox, but with skill." He said. "I shall enjoy defeating you and your pathetic team here."

D! pushed his shades higher on his nose. "You can't defeat us, old man. Especially when we've got a psychotic hero of justice on our team."

"'The Koehan' shall smite you, villain!" Chang roared, smashing Toad over the head with his wrecking ball.

"Okay, so you've got a couple of skilled fighters, but that won't help you win." Heihachi said.

"We'll just see about that." D! said, raising his fists.

Ryu and Sagat, surprisingly, were fighting side by side for once, taking on Earthquake together. The giant mountain of man held up his weapon and blocked Ryu's Hadouken, but failed to block Sagat's Tiger Shot, which slammed into his oversized stomach.

Because of this, Earthquake dropped his guard in surprise. This allowed Ryu to run in and perform his Dragon Uppercut to his chin, lifting the giant into the ground. On his way down, Sagat continued the onslaught with a Tiger Uppercut, further keeping the large man in the air.

"Sagat, get out of the way!" Ryu said, crouching low.

The tall, one-eyed man realized what Ryu was talking about and nodded. Once he landed, Sagat ran to the side to allow Ryu to do the move.

"HURRICANE KICK!" Ryu screamed, leaping into the air and kicking at the air wildly.

Earthquake fell straight into Ryu's attack and was kicked about twelve times in the face.

The brainwashed Seth and Roy were fighting Falco together, but the blue avian looked like he was handling things fine.

"You guys must have very weak minds if you could let Bison take over them." Falco said as he lunged forward in a Falco Phantasm, sending Seth into the air. However, Roy, even in his brainwashed state, knew about how Falco's moves worked, and lashed out his foot.

As luck would have it, Falco ran straight into the foot. The blue hotshot staggered back a few steps, holding his beak. Roy took this chance and swung his sword at Falco. Falco quickly saw the attack coming and swept Roy's feet out from under him. While Roy was on the ground, Falco turned and fired his blaster at Seth a few times, stunning him for several seconds.

"You two really need to try harder than that." Falco smirked. "I'm barely even working up a sweat here."

"HADOUKEN!"

Falco spun around in time to see a fireball slam into Roy's side. He looked and saw Ryu standing straight.

"Watch your back, bird." Ryu said. "Your nodal companion was about to slice you to ribbons."

"I'll keep that in mind." Falco sighed. Before resuming his fight, he saw Sagat kicking the tar out of Earthquake.

Jacky, in the meantime, was having a little more difficulty against Borus and Percival. The fact that he wasn't used to standing up against armed fighters may have had something to do with it, but Jacky pressed on anyways.

The blonde man leapt into the air and kicked Borus in the face. The Swordsman of Rage stepped back, but was otherwise unharmed by the weak kick. Borus readied his sword and charged again.

Jacky looked and saw that Percival was doing the same. Thinking quickly, Jacky jumped again, kicked off of Percival's chest, soared through the air and landed another kick to the side of Borus' head.

"This is getting pretty rough." Jacky said to himself. "Funny how these guys are doing better here than they did in the arena."

Indeed, Jacky was right. Borus and Percival were proving to be better fighters than they had shown in the arena, and had gotten a few hits in to the Virtua Fighter. But even though he was struggling a bit more, Jacky was still winning the fight.

The brainwashed Percival lunged forward with his sword, hoping to run Jacky through. Luckily, he was too slow, and Jacky avoided the attack. He responded with a quick kick to the brown-haired knight's head, making Percival collapse.

Jacky sighed in relief. "Well, that's one down." He said as he turned, only to have Borus' fist connect with his face.

The World Hero Jack was having a grand time. The clawed psycho was currently in a fight with Ash Crimson and Jin Chonshu, and figured that he had it easy. In fact, Ash was proving to be the only decent fighter on the two, and to Jack, even that wasn't saying very much.

Jack slashed at Ash with his claws, only to have the prettyboy avoid the attack. "Chonshu, attack!" Ash ordered.

Chonshu mechanically nodded, got into his stance and rushed at Jack. The clawed psycho saw him coming and did a backflip over the young-looking fighter. Jack landed gracefully on his feet as Chonshu collided with Ash with a sickening crunch, sending both of them to the floor.

Ash stood up, annoyed, and looked down at Chonshu. "You fool! You should have stopped!"

Jack snickered. "And now they argue with each other. This'll be easier than I thought."

"Don't get cocky!" Ash sneered. "I shall eliminate you, being nothing but a minor threat!"

"Sure. Sure. Like you didn't show it already in the arena." Jack taunted.

Ash's eye twitched. Letting out a battle cry, he charged at the clawed lunatic. "YOU DIE!"

As Chang mopped the floor with Toad, Mystique and Marrow all at once, Clark was in the process of fighting Balrog and Gen-An. The Ikari Warrior slammed his rock-hard fist into Gen-An's face, sending the green-skinned freak flying back a few feet. Balrog took this chance to nail Clark with a hard uppercut.

The fallen boxer then thrust his fist out in a left hook to the stomach, hoping to do more damage. Clark was lucky enough to see this coming and blocked the attack with both hands. He then shoved his foot out, striking Balrog in the face.

"Gah!" Balrog shouted as he gripped his face. "I hate kicks! Why are you kicking?"

"Because I want to counter those dirty tricks of yours." Clark replied, putting up his fists.

Barlrog growled. "You'll pay for that remark."

"I'm sure I will." Clark said as he thrust his fist out beside him, nailing Gen-An, whom was sneaking up for an attack, without looking.

"Crazy Buffalo!" Balrog shouted as he lunged forward in a powerful punch.

Clark smirked and leaned to the side. Balrog's fist connected with Gen-An, firing the green-skinned mutant into a wall. Seeing his mistake, Balrog growled and lashed out his fist again, hoping to hit the Ikari Warrior in the face.

"Not this time, pal!" Clark shouted as he grabbed Balrog and tossed him into the air.

If anyone had been paying attention, they would have seen Clark simply standing still for a few seconds before holding his hands out, catching Balrog. Clark slammed Balrog onto his shoulders, ran a few steps and tossed the boxer to the ground, piledriving him at the same time.

D! held up his hands, blocking a punch from Heihachi. The older Mishima quickly tried sweeping the boxer's feet out from under him, but D! quickly jumped over Heihachi's foot.

"Maybe you should think about retirement, old man." D! said with a smirk. "I can see your attacks coming a mile away."

Heihachi narrowed his eyes. "Young fool, I can defeat you by myself in necessary!"

"Good, because it looks like it's gonna be that way soon." D! replied.

Heihachi growled. "Fine. You win this round, but you haven't won the battle!" With that, Heihachi turned around and ran off.

D! was about to run after him when something collided with his back, knocking him to the ground. On closer inspection, the boxer saw that it was Watari that landed on him.

"What the heck happened, Watari?" D! asked.

"Yuber caught me off guard and threw me." Watari replied simply.

"Attention, please." Unknown1's voice came through the speakers. "Will Yuber please report to the Ready Room and prepare to enter the arena?"

Standing aside, Yuber smirked. "Well, would you look at that. It's time for me to go."

Turning around, Yuber ran off in the opposite direction Heihachi had run. D! was about to go after him when Watari held him back. "Let him go." The ninja said. "We'll never catch up to him and we aren't allowed to enter the arena again. I suggest we go to the Hotel Lobby and meet up with the others."

D! nodded. "Got it. You guys ready?"

The two looked around and saw that the other battles had pretty much finished. Clark had just delivered the finishing blow to Balrog, as Gen-An lay on the ground by the wall, defeated. Roy and Seth lay at Falco's feet, both of them knocked out. Borus and Percival were the same, but Jacky looked a little more tired. Ash and Chonshu had been defeated as well, and Jack stood over them, laughing. Sagat continued whaling on Earthquake for a few more seconds before letting up and allowing the giant to sink into unconsciousness. Ryu stood aside, arms folded, as he waited for Sagat to finish. Chang looked pretty much untouched, as he had totally obliterated Toad, Mystique and Marrow on his own.

"I'd say we're ready." Clark said. Everyone else nodded.

D! nodded. "Let's go, then."

"Hey, D! Wait!"

Everyone turned and saw Lucky, Dan, Mika and the rest of their group coming over.

"Well, this works out." D! said. "We've got two-thirds of the team here, so now all we have to do is go meet up with the others."

"Let's go, then!" Falco said, getting impatient. "All this waiting around is making me bored!"

Everyone left the hallway, leaving the defeated villains (and brainwashed friends) sprawled out on the floor.

Suddenly, Sodom ran through the hallway, still on his search for Lilly Kane. He tripped over Seth's body, but didn't stop running, which looked more like a tired stumble by now.

**(The Arena) **

Much like her friend Seth, the brainwashed Vanessa was on the losing side of a battle. The ones fighting her? Venom and Landis, having reunited after their separate eliminations only a few minutes ago. Unfortunately for the redhead woman, the two psychos weren't holding back.

Now, Vanessa had been partnered with Iori Yagami before, so taking on one deranged lunatic she could handle. But she was fighting TWO of them, and thus wasn't having as easy of a time in her fight.

"The Grim Reaper shall enjoy the thrill of eliminating you!" Landis shouted, raising his scythe.

However, Landis had taken too long to swing, and Vanessa struck him with her fist. She then continued to stand still, in her stance, staring the lunatics down.

"We have to admit that you're a brave woman." Venom said. "Standing up to us would make most humans cower in fear."

Although the fact that Vanessa didn't look scared may have been the fact that she had been brainwashed and was incapable of fear, no one in the arena knew that. Venom and Landis advance together, hoping to wear down the redhead woman enough to throw her out of the arena.

Venom was the first to strike, lashing out with his hands. Vanessa quickly leapt into the air and delivered a hard kick to Venom's head, knocking him into Luigi and Cecile. This left Landis to fight the brainwashed woman alone.

Landis swung his scythe, but Vanesa showed a surprising amount of stealth and leapt into the air, arcing over the blade of steel. Vanessa turned over in midair and landed on her feet like a cat.

The Winghorde raised an eyebrow. This woman had odd reflexes. That, to him, meant that she either had a lot of training or someone had her mind wiped. He needed some sort of distraction before he could eliminate her.

Suddenly, as if on cue, a stray frying pan (courtesy of Kung Pow) ricocheted off of Vanessa's head. As the redhead looked over her shoulder to see where the pan had come from, Landis smirked and booted her out of the arena.

Vanessa landed in Fusion Frenzy. As she sat up, wondering what had happened, Dub threw a bomb at her.

Nina Williams swung her fist at her opponent, Gabby Jay, hoping that the punch would do some serious damage to the old man. However, the old, French boxer showed a strange case of awareness and dodged to the side, allowing Nina's punch to soar over his head.

"You know? I played the game you were in." Nina said. "I don't recall you being this much of a pain to knock out."

"Hey, I've just been training for a long time, young lady." Gabby Jay replied.

"Well, let's see if you have what it takes to take me down." Nina added, narrowing her eyes.

"I'll certainly try."

Gabby lashed out with a right hook, which Nina easily blocked. The blonde woman proceeded to knee the old boxer in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.

The old man coughed for a few seconds before standing up. "Looks like I need to resort to my special move to defeat you." He said.

With that, Gabby jumped back several steps. He stood still for a few seconds before crouching low and jumping forward. Nina knew what was coming and thrust her fist upwards in an uppercut. Gabby jumped straight into the attack, but not before connecting with his super uppercut himself.

Both fighters, feeling the effects of the punches, flew back in opposite directions several feet. Both fighters landed on the canvas, Nina managing to land a little more gracefully. Nina turned over and landed on a foot and a knee as Gabby landed flat on his back.

Sensing an easy elimination, Nina charged as Gabby slowly stood up.

The old boxer shook his head a few times to regain his senses and looked forward. When he saw Nina coming straight at him, Gabby took quick action. Gabby leapt to the side as Nina passed him, then grabbed hold of the back of her shirt with both hands.

With one mighty swing, Gabby Jay shocked everyone in the dome (including himself) and threw Nina from the arena.

It took a full eight seconds for Gabby to realize what he had just done, but once he did, he leapt into the air and let out a loud holler. Everyone in the stands went crazy.

"Yes, folks! Your eyes are not playing tricks on you!" SSBFreak shouted through the speakers. "Gabby Jay has just gotten an elimination!"

Nina landed in Unreal Championship. After finding a firearm, she felt right at home, taking out members of both teams everywhere.

As the other fighters continued to fight, Goh and Kung Pow had split up from their small alliance and went to fight their own opponents. Kung Pow was currently fighting Kula Diamond, and was holding his own against her.

Kula lashed out her hands, sending a wave of ice-cold energy at the goofy-looking Clayfighter. Kung Pow gave off a toothy grin and held up a frying pan, blocking the attack. Kung Pow quickly lunged forward and struck the ice girl in the face with his huge foot.

After stepping back a few steps, Kula narrowed her eyes at Kung Pow. "You're in for it now!"

Kung Pow didn't reply. He simply grinned and pulled out a pair of chopsticks. He rushed forward and started poking Kula with them.

"And stop it with the chopsticks, already!" Kula said as she grabbed the kung-fu chef. "I mean, honestly! What's up with them?"

"You no understand art of cooking." Kung Pow replied, still not taking the grin off his face. "I am artist, and must practice all of time."

"I understand that, but you're fighting with freaking chopsticks!" Kula said. "It makes no sense!"

"So what point?" Kung Pow asked.

Kula sighed, realizing that she was having an incredibly stupid argument with someone that had a brain of clay. Without giving Kung Pow an answer to his previous question, Kula chucked him over the ropes.

Kung Pow landed in Suikoden 2, where he demolished Hai Yo in a cooking competition.

Goh, seeing his ally get tossed, growled. He grabbed Kazuya, his opponent, and threw him over his shoulder, onto the ground.

Kazuya got to his feet and clutched his stomach. "You remind me vaguely of Bryan Fury. You're just about as ruthless as he is." He said.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Goh said, his fists raised.

"Well, good. Because it wasn't meant to be a compliment." Kazuya replied with a cold smirk. "I'm not fond of that guy."

The two stared each other down for a few seconds before lunging at each other. When they got close enough, both adults lashed out a limp, Goh a hand and Kazuya a foot. Both attacks connected as they stepped back to recover, Goh feeling his stomach and Kazuya feeling his head.

Goh knew about Kazuya and his past, so he knew that even a skilled killer like him had to be careful if he wanted to pull on top. Goh had to stay on his feet and prepare for anything.

Kazuya was the first to act. The black-haired man dropped to the canvas and spun on one foot, the other outstretched. Goh jumped out of the way of the first kick, but the second one caught him off guard and tripped him.

Goh landed on his back, but that allowed him to lash out both of his feet and kick Kazuya in the chest. Kazuya flew back and also landed on his back, but quickly got to his feet.

"You're quite the annoying little pest, aren't you?" Kazuya asked. "Well, it's time for me to stop fooling around and finish the fight."

Goh struggled, but he managed to get himself into a sitting position as Kazuya charged forward. As the younger Mishima ran at Goh with the ferocity of a lion, said assassin narrowed his eyes.

Once he got within reach, Goh grabbed each of Kazuya's arms and threw himself onto his back, forcing Kazuya above him. Goh quickly stuck his feet up and planted them into Kazuya's stomach, releasing his arms at the same time. With one kick, Goh sent Kazuya end-over-end over the ropes and out of the arena.

Kazuya landed in 1080 Snowboarding. He landed on top of Rob Haywood during a race, sending both of them tumbling down the mountain.

Back in the arena, Goh slowly got to his feet. Once he did, he looked around and saw that everyone else was resting before the next wave of fighters came out. Venom and Landis looked almost completely unharmed, and were laughing at the thought of eliminating more fighters. Luigi removed his hat and wiped the sweat from his brow, but looked alright otherwise. Kula was also staying cool, but was resorting to lightly fanning her face to do so. Cecile was starting to regret wearing such heavy armour, as she was starting to look tired. Gabby Jay was trying to keep his mind focused, despite the fact that he was still incredibly excited that he had eliminated someone. Lastly, Donkey Kong peeled yet another banana, ate it in one gulp and tossed the peel away.

Everyone knew that the next wave of fighters were going to come out any second now, so they all savoured the rest they had before the next fighter entered.

**RESULTS**

VENOM (MC)

LANDIS (S3)

LUIGI MARIO (SSB)

CECILE (S3)

KULA DIAMOND (KOF)

GOH HINOGAMI (VF)

DONKEY KONG (SSB)

GABBY JAY (SPO!)

**(ELIMINATED)**

DUCK KING (FF)

SHABON (S3)

KAZUYA MISHIMA (T5)

HAOHMARU (SS)

RUGAL BERENSTEIN (KOF)

KUNG POW (CF63 1/3)

GUY (SFA3)

NINA WILLIAMS (T5)

VANESSA (KOF)

DHALSIM (SFA3)

KIM SUE IL (KE)

HANZOU (WH)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Good Grief, That's a Lotta Fighters!" **

HEAVY D!, CHANG KOEHAN, CLARK STEELE (KOF), RYU, SAGAT (SFA3), JACKY BRYANT (VF), FALCO LOMBARDI (SSB), WATARI (S3) and JACK (WH)

_**defeat **_

HEIHACHI MISHIMA (T5), ASH CRIMSON, SETH (KOF), TOAD, MYSTIQUE, MARROW (MC), YUBER, BORUS REDRUM, PERCIVAL FRAULEIN (S3), EARTHQUAKE, GEN-AN (SS), BALROG (SFA3), JIN CHONSHU (FF) and ROY (SSB)

"**Lobby Lockdown" **

RYUJI YAMAZAKI (FF) _**cuts down**_ REED (S3)

Eliminations: Venom and Landis, 2; Luigi, Cecile, Kula, Goh, DK, Gabby Jay, Duck and Shabon, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: R. Mika (8), King (7), Bruce Irvin (6), Peach Toadstool (5), Lucky Glauber (5), Chang Koehan (5), Heavy D! (5)


	28. Section Thirteen

**(The Arena)**

There were eight fighters currently in the arena, and fatigue was starting to weigh a few of them down. Still, the remaining fighters prepared for the next wave to start entering the arena, and they everyone knew that it would be anytime now. Once they all heard cheering, they looked at the entrance curtain. People didn't even notice the ropes that Kim Sue had broken in the last section repair themselves, forming a four-sided arena again.

"**KEN MASTERS!" (SFA3) **

Anyone in the stands that was a fan of Ryo Sakazaki instantly booed, but the majority of the crowd cheered for the blonde-haired man.

Ken looked up into the stands and was surprised to see that his son and wife were gone. He shrugged, figuring that they were probably just at the snack bar, as he continued walking down the ramp, waving to the crowd.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Ryo looked at a fork in his hands, then at Ken, walking down to the arena. A sly smirk found its way onto Ryo's face about two seconds before he hurled the fork with all his might.

Ken was just about to jump into the arena when the fork Ryo had thrown slammed into his behind. Ken yowled in pain as he leapt into the arena, and once he landed, he spent about five seconds trying to get the fork out of his outfit. Once he saw what it was, Ken cast an accusing look at the Eliminated Seating, where Ryo was doubled over in laughter.

The blonde man shook his head and turned only to have Goh throw him over his shoulder.

"**GANNONDORF DRAGMIRE!" (SSB) **

The Gerudo king laughed evilly as he walked down to the arena. He received a mixed crowd reaction, but he didn't seem to care.

It was a pity that Rugal had been eliminated, Gannondorf lamented, because then there would have been a better chance of some double-teaming. However, he was pleased that the likes of Venom and Goh were still in the arena. They were skilled, and would give Gannondorf a great, almost Link-like, challenge.

However, before Gannondorf could get very far, Luigi approached. "What're you up to this time, Gannondorf?" The green-clad plumber asked, folding his arms.

"Excuse me?" Gannondorf asked, pretending to look insulted. "What possibly makes you think I'm up to something?"

"You forget that we've got two, count 'em, TWO psychics in our group?" Luigi quizzed.

Gannondorf sighed and lunged at Luigi in a Gerudo Dragon.

"**JUBILEE!" (MC) **

The young, explosive mutant waved to the crowd as she ran headfirst down the ramp leading to the arena.

Words couldn't describe how excited Jubilee was. This was the first tournament of its kind Jubilee was invited to, and one of the main things Prof. X told her before leaving the mansion was to keep a close eye on Magneto when he got into the arena.

However, since Magneto was already eliminated, that meant Jubilee could focus on having a blast (literally) in the arena.

Once she hit the arena, the first thing Jubilee did was look for a challenge with who she thought was the strongest fighter.

To her, however, that was Donkey Kong.

"You wanna fight?" Jubilee asked.

DK scratched his head before giving his signature "O-Kay!"

"Great!" With that, Jubile lashed out a hand, creating several small explosions around it.

DK looked at the small fireworks display in awe, the reached out to touch one of the explosions.

**(Dome; Basement) **

"You in here, Rasputin?" Julia Chang asked as she opened the door leading into the basement.

"Ah! Eiji! Julia! I'm down here!" Rasputin's voice called up the staircase that lay before Eiji and Julia.

Eiji sighed and started walking down the steps. "Why did he chose to meet us in the BASEMENT?"

"Probably because it's out of the way." Julia reasoned. "The last thing we want is the wrong people finding about your predicament."

"I guess you're right."

The two went down a short flight of steps before they saw a bit of light. At first, they thought it was a light bulb in the middle of the basement, but as they got closer, they saw that almost the entire basement was lit up. The source of it was a machine in the corner of the room, where a miniature lab was set up. Sitting at the desk, reading a newspaper, was Wile E. Coyote.

"Charming, isn't it?" Eiji and Julia saw Rasputin walking over to them. "The officials said he could set up a lab down here so he felt at home."

"Is he okay with us being down here, then?" Julia asked.

"Oh, yes. Definitely." Rasputin turned to the desk. "Isn't that right, good sir?"

A brown thumb's up stuck into the air, the owner of it not taking his eyes off the paper.

"Well, that's good." Eiji said. "So, did you find out anything?"

Rasputin sighed. "Alas, no. That Mezu wasn't willing to say anything."

"Oh, well." Julia sighed sadly. "At least you tried."

"Well, now you can try to survive us, then!"

Eiji, Julia and Rasputin focused on one of the corners of the room that wasn't lit up. Even Wile E folded one corner of the paper so he could see.

Two very familiar ninjas walked into view.

Eiji's eyes widened, then narrowed in hatred. "You two." He spat.

Gozu nodded. "We're here for those gauntlet pieces, pal. Now hand them over or we'll be forced to…Er…Use force."

"Well, you're out of luck." Eiji growled. "I don't have them anymore. They vanished the instant I picked them up."

"Then I guess we'll have to kill you to get the essences back, then." Mezu muttered as he and Gozu approached.

Julia bravely stood in the path, preventing the red and blue ninjas from going near Eiji. "Stay away, jerks." She said with malice. "I'm not letting you get anywhere near him."

"Fine then." Gozu said. "It looks like we'll have to kill you first."

"Julia, don't! I can take them!" Eiji insisted.

"We can't risk you using those elements, Eiji." Julia said. "I'll handle this."

Wile E, in the meantime, sighed and went back to reading the paper.

**(The Arena) **

"**MAI SHIRANUI!" (KOF) **

Mai burst out of the entrance curtain and ran headfirst down the ramp leading to the arena. Mai leapt in, hoping to make up for Andy's somewhat poor performance.

The instant Mai hit the arena, Cecile clocked her with her shield. The brunette woman, rubbing her head, looked down at Cecile questioningly. "What was that for?"

"Put some clothes on, for pete's sake!" Cecile shouted. "The way you fight in clothes like that sickens me!"

Mai sighed as she threw a fan at Cecile. "Why is it wherever I go, I always run into at least one of these people?"

"**ELAINE!" (S3) **

The blonde swordswoman quickly ran down to the ring and jumped in. The first thing she did was plow her shoulder into Mai, sending the female ninja flying.

Mai slowly got to her feet. "What is it with you people?"

"Cecile, you go. I'll deal with her." Elaine said to her nodal companion. Cecile nodded and ran off to fight Ken. Elaine looked at Mai. "I must say that I agree with Cecile in saying that you need a new wardrobe."

"Whatever for?" Mai asked.

"Well, the fact that you've been wearing that one outfit since 1994 helps."

"But this one attracts a lot of attention." Mai shrugged.

"GEE! Ya THINK?" Elaine asked.

"**JUZOH KANZAKI!" (LB) **

The huge man laughed heartily as 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' came through the speakers. Juzoh marched down to the ring, his weapon, a club, slung over his shoulder.

"Well, Akari doesn't enter for a little bit, so I guess I can forget about double-teaming." Juzoh mused as he stepped into the arena. "Well, I guess I just need to do some fighting on my own, then."

Once he got into the arena, Juzoh walked over to the fight Gannondorf was having with Luigi. Pulling his weapon into the air, Juzoh smashed it over Gannondorf's head.

The Gerudo king rubbed his head and glared daggers at Juzoh. "What do you think you're doing, punk?"

"Uh…Fighting?"

"Good, because I'm going to do that just for you attacking me." Gannondorf said as he engulfed a fist in dark flames.

Luigi sighed. From the looks of things, he had just gotten an ally, whether he liked it or not.

**(Hotel; Lobby) **

Reed groaned as he rocked his head back and forth. It was hard to see, but he could tell by the blurred images surrounding him that people were gathered around and looking down at him.

"Well, look who's up." Someone chuckled. Reed knew by the voice that it was Samus.

"You had us worried for a second." Nei said. "It's good to see that you're alright.

Reed slowly sat up and felt his head, having a severe headache from his fight with Ryuji Yamazaki. "What happened?"

"Yamazaki defeated you." Chonrei explained. "You should know not to misjudge your opponents, Reed."

"Well, we have no idea what's going on, or where the villains are hiding." J. Maxx said.

"OR where he keeping the kids." Guile grumbled.

"I'm afraid that's not the last of our worries!"

The group turned to see the remaining two groups coming into the lobby.

"There you guys are." Reed said as he slowly got to his feet. "But what do you mean?"

"Bison's brainwashed a few of our friends to fight for him." Clark explained. "Including Jin Chonshu."

Chonrei's eyes snapped open. "Ch-Chonshu?" He asked.

"Yes, Chonrei. Your brother's mind had been warped." Clark sighed. "However, I didn't know we had so many people on the team. At first, I wasn't too sure about our chances, but now that I see the entire team, I think we have a shot at defeating Bison."

"The only problem is that we don't know where he's keeping the kids." Guile repeated.

"Leave that to me." Vivian said with a smirk.

Chonrei nodded. "You think you could go now?"

"Of course." Vivian said as she sank into the floor, surprising a few members of the team.

"Like that, Vivian can sneak through the hotel without being noticed incredibly quickly." Chonrei explained as Vivian went off. "She can locate all of the kids and relay the message to us."

"Then we'll find out where they're being kept!" Asuka Kazama said.

"Brilliant!" Chang agreed. "'The Koehan' couldn't have come up with a better plan himself!"

Everyone that wasn't aware of Chang's unusual transformation wisely chose to ignore him.

**(The Arena) **

"**BROCKEN!" (WH) **

The German robot saluted the parts of the audience that cheered him on as he activated his leg jets. The audience watched as Brocken, arms behind his back, hovered through the air, over the arena and landed gently on his feet. A few more people cheered because of the great entrance.

However, Brocken didn't notice Gabby Jay running in from the side and received a painful blow to the face.

Brocken looked at Gabby Jay with a dark glare. "You really shouldn't have done that." He said as he lashed out his arm, extending it to great lengths and socking the old boxer back.

"Oh, come ON!" Goh complained. "We just got RID of the rubber mummy!"

"**YUBER!" (S3) **

"_Cause I'm stronger, yeah!" _

"_Than the devil, yeah, yeah!" _

"_Cause I'm stronger, yeah!" _

"_Than the devil, yeah, yeah!" _

"_The fear tries to take me!" _

"_The flesh tries to pull!" _

"_Blackness all around me" _

"_But I'm undefeatable!"_

As Skillet came through the speakers, the black knight himself appeared on the ramp leading down to the arena. He looked at the arena and smirked evilly, the thought of severe bloodshed on his mind.

Letting out an evil chuckle, Yuber ran down to the arena and jumped in.

"Oh, crap! It's Yuber!" Cecile shouted.

"Stay away!" Elaine warned. "He's lethal!"

"Heehee, he's the Grim Reaper's worst enemy." Landis added from a turnbuckle.

Yuber again chuckled as he watched Venom, Jubilee, Kula and DK running over to fight him. "You really should have listened, fools."

"**ROLENTO SHUGERG!" (SFA3) **

"_Boom!"_

"_Here comes the Boom!" _

"_Ready or not, here come the boys from the South!" _

"_Boom!" _

"_Here comes the Boom!" _

"_How you like me now!"_

As P.O.D.'s song 'Boom' came through the speakers, Rolento did the one thing we have all come to know him to do to get to the arena.

He rolled the whole way down.

Once he got to the arena edge, Rolento broke out of the roll and leapt into the arena. While in the air, Rolento bombarded Gannondorf, Brocken and Goh with grenades before he landed gracefully on his feet.

Rolento smirked as he pulled out his baton, ran over to Landis and smacked him over the head with it.

"Yuh-Huh. What did you hit the Grim Reaper for?" Landis asked with a glint in his eye.

"Well, comrade. We need to fight, no?" Rolento shrugged.

Landis scratched his head. "I guess."

"Well then, let us do so!"

**(Dome, Snack Bar) **

"What's up with this?" Benimaru asked aloud when he walked into the still-demolished snack bar. "This place is a dump."

The owner sighed. "Some people fought in here." He explained. "I still haven't gotten around to cleaning the place up."

"Make sense." Benimaru said. "Well, I'll just have some rice, please."

"Coming right up, sir."

As Benimaru waited for his food to arrive, he felt a light tap on the shoulder. He turned his head. "Yes?"

A watery fist met his face, knocking Benimaru against the counter. Benimaru looked ahead and saw a familiar water-dog standing in front of him.

"Congratulations, you have just won the contest of 'Let's beat up the Liquidator'!" The Liquidator said angrily. "You have won a beating! Like this one!"

Benimaru sighed. From the looks of things, the Liquidator was a little upset at his elimination. "I guess I can't avoid it, right?"

"CHU!"

The Liquidator turned as a small, yellow and black, mouse-like creature slammed into his stomach, surging with electricity. The Liquidator flew straight into a wall, yet peeled himself from it.

"Sorry, but the Liquidator requires all annoyances to take a number and await their prize." The Liquidator said as he looked at his attacker. "However, in this case, he'll make an exception!"

Pichu charged up another electrical attack and prepared for a fight.

Benimaru sighed as the snack bar owner ducked under the counter.

**(The Arena) **

"**NESS!" (SSB) **

The young, psychic boy came out to a loud cheer (mainly from the Japanese audience). He waved a few times as he pulled out his yo-yo and ran down to the ring.

The first thing Ness did was lash out the yo-yo at Yuber. He would have gone for Gannondorf, but the Gerudo king was currently fighting Luigi and Juzoh and it didn't look like they needed more help.

That and Yuber's dark aura was about ten times more powerful than Gannondorf's.

Without looking, Yuber raised one of his swords and blocked the yo-yo. "Please. It'll take more than cheap toys to defeat me."

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**THIRTEEN**!"

"**PESMERGA!" (Suikoden 2) **

"…_Yuuuuuuuuuuuberrrrrr…" _

Yuber's eyes snapped open. He let out a whimper as he slowly turned to the entrance curtain, where his worst nightmare was indeed standing outside the entrance curtain.

"YUUUUUBERRRRR! I SHALL DESTROY YOU!" Pesmerga screamed as he charged down the ramp with a cloud of dust building up behind him.

Yuber stood still for about three seconds, screamed like a little girl and scrambled off.

"And now, the final fighter of this section…"

"**KYO KUSANAGI!" (KOF) **

Every fangirl in the audience instantly went wild. The main character of KOF chuckled as he waved, walking down to the arena.

Once he hit the arena, Kyo could only ponder what to do next. From the looks of things, everyone already had an opponent. After pondering for a few seconds, Kyo shrugged and sent a wave of fire at Brocken and Gabby Jay.

The fire wave hit both boxer and robot, sending them both to the ground. The two stood up, looking accusingly at Kyo.

"I think a truce is in order, wouldn't you say?" Brocken asked.

"Quite." Gabby Jay said.

With that, the two rushed Kyo together.


	29. Section Thirteen Results

**(The Arena) **

"GRIM REAPER!"

Ness ducked as Landis swooped above him. The crazed Winghorde swung his scythe, but Ness had ducked in time for the weapon to miss.

Ness, luckily, knew one way to bring a flying opponent to the ground. Crouching low, the psychic boy concentrated.

"PK THUNDER!" Ness shouted, firing a ball of psychic energy into the air.

Using his mind, Ness controlled his attack, causing it to strike Landis in the back. The shock from the attack dropped Landis from the sky, making him land on his side. The winged lunatic jump to his feet.

"The Grim Reaper shall make you pay!" Landis shouted as he spread his wings to fly away.

Much to his surprise, his wings didn't unfold.

Landis looked at Ness, whom was smirking triumphantly. "My attack numbed your wings." The boy said simply. "Now it should be easier to remove you from the arena."

Before Ness could advance, Yuber flew by, screaming his head off.

"YUUUUUUUUBERRRRRRRR!" Pesmerga screamed, chasing after his sworn enemy.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

Unknown1 glared at SSBFreak. "Just how much did you pay Pesmerga to come here?"

The elder announcer gave a sly smirk. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

**(The Arena) **

Gabby Jay ducked as Kyo Kusanagi swung his fist, sending a wave of flames at his two opponents. Brocken, however, wasn't so lucky, and received the attack to the face. As the German robot staggered back, Gabby Jay looked in his direction.

"You gotta stay aware of your opponent or else you'll get smacked!" The old boxer said before pausing. "You know? The sound of me giving fighting advice kinda sounds funny."

Kyo used this to his advantage and landed a hard kick to the old boxer's back. "Then you should seriously try considering your own advice, pal." He said with a smirk.

Gabby growled and lashed out with a one-two punch. Kyo held up his hands and blocked both punches, but wasn't prepared for the body blow that followed directly after them.

Brocken, having recovered, extended his arm out to hit the distracted Kyo in the face.

Although a fair amount of people were cheering for Gabby and Brocken (if only because they were still amazed at Gabby's earlier elimination), the majority of the crowd was cheering for Kyo. This was expected considering that Kyo was one of the most popular characters in the tournament (along with Ryu, Mario, Sonic and possibly Terry Bogard).

Kyo, rubbing his head, decided to level the playing field. Grabbing Brocken, Kyo threw him away, over the ropes.

Brocken, however, proved to be quicker than people thought, and activated his leg jets. Brocken gracefully floated back into the arena, and once he was in, he increased his speed and torpedoed at Kyo.

Kyo heard the jets activate, turned and smirked. "Don't think so!" He said as he swerved to the side and allowed Brocken to shoot past him. Once the German robot was gone, he resumed his fight with Gabby Jay.

Now, Brocken didn't have the best brakes around, and found it incredibly hard to stop moving. In fact, he plowed over Pesmerga (giving Yuber a chance to catch his breath) and continued going towards the fight between Landis and Ness.

Ness swung his baseball bat, connecting with Landis' face. Now, if Landis had been able to fly, he would have avoided an attack like that easily, but the effects of Ness' PK Thunder were still preventing Landis from using his wings, which was frustrating the Winghorde.

After getting hit with the bat, Landis found his head getting turned. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was looking over his shoulder and Brocken was coming straight at him.

Momentarily forgetting about Ness, Landis smirked, stood up and grabbed Brocken before he plowed into him. "GRIM FREAKING REAPER!" He screamed as he threw Brocken away, over the ropes.

Brocken tried to reactivate his leg jets, but found that he had used up most of his energy in that last run. The German robot could do nothing as he fell through an elimination portal.

Brocken landed in Unreal Championship. Two members of the red team watched him appear.

"I wonder what the deal is with all of these people appearing here." One pondered.

"Ah, who cares?" The second asked before sniping Brocken. "Free kills."

Back in the arena, Landis chuckled darkly. His laughing quickly came to a halt when Ness smashed his bat over the Winghorde's head again.

"You're becoming annoying." Landis glared at the psychic boy. "The Reaper hates annoying people."

"You think I'M annoying?" Ness asked. "Who's the one rambling on and on about the Grim Reaper?"

Landis, for once in his life, was silent. He simply ran at Ness and swung his scythe.

Ness pulled out his yo-yo and performed a round-the-world with it, parrying the strike Landis was about to land with his scythe. How Ness was able to use a yo-yo to do this confused everyone in the stands, but no one really pressed matters any.

"You're good, but the Grim Reaper is ten times better!" Landis taunted with a smirk.

Ness sighed. "Look, as much as I'd LOVE to continue this, I have more important matters to deal with." He said as he pulled out his bat again.

"Let's see what you've got, then." Landis chuckled.

Landis advanced, but Ness quickly grabbed him. Then, using his mind, Ness spun Landis around and threw him over his shoulder, over the ropes. In the air, Landis chuckled and tried flying back in, but suddenly realized that Ness' psychic powers were still disabling his wings. Landis fell through the vortex.

Landis landed in Suikoden 2, right beside Sid, whom other than the fact that he wasn't wearing a cover over his eye, looked almost exactly like Landis.

"…Well, THIS is awkward." Sid mused.

Ken confidently lashed out his hands, sending another fireball at Kula. After he did, he waved to the crowd, which he thought was giving him a loud cheer.

"Thank you! Thank you! You're too kind!" Ken said.

"They're not cheering for you, smart guy!"

Ken looked in time to see his own fireball, now a frozen ball of ice, smash into his face. The crowd had been cheering because Kula had cleverly frozen the fireball in midair and then used it against its wielder. The force from the attack had sent Ken onto his back.

The blonde Street Fighter slowly stood up, standing amongst several pieces of frozen fireball. "You're a sneaky one, lady."

"Not that hard considering you've been playing to the crowd most of the time you've been in the arena." Kula replied with a smirk.

Ken's eyes narrowed as he lashed out another fireball. Kula didn't bother to freeze this one. She simply created a wall of ice, which the fireball slammed. The burning ball of fire melted a small amount of the ice, but it wasn't enough to burn a hole straight through it.

As quickly as she created it, Kula took down her wall. "You'll have to be quicker than that."

The two fighters rushed at each other and each threw a couple of punches. However, each fighter was able to block the attacks of their respective opponent fairly easily. Even though she was starting to feel a little worn out, Kula was able to keep up with Ken's punches and prevent either of them from hitting her face. Once she saw an opening, Kula thrust her fist into Ken's stomach.

Ken slouched over, grasping his stomach in pain. Kula sighed in relief and reached out to grab the older fighter and throw him from the arena.

As soon as Kula came within reach, Ken grabbed her arm. Kula realized all too late that Ken had been feigning pain.

Ken quickly tossed the ice girl from the ring. Kula, fatigue starting to weigh her down, fell limply through the vortex.

Ken stood up and brushed his hands off. "Well, that's that."

Kula landed in Megaman 1. Fireman saw her and fired a short beam of fire at her. He was promptly frozen for his troubles.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

K' growled at the sight of Kula getting eliminated. He made a mental note to kill Masters for such a cheap trick after the tournament was over.

**(The Arena) **

Jubilee lashed out her hand, creating several more explosions. Donkey Kong, now knowing that these fireworks WEREN'T for touching, rolled to the side to avoid them. Once he got up, the giant ape grabbed Jubilee and slammed her into the canvas.

The young mutant girl stood up and shook her head. "Man. For a stupid ape, you're pretty aware of what's going on."

DK didn't respond. He simply scratched his head and tried to figure out if Jubilee insulted or complimented him. Deciding t shrug it off, DK peeled a banana, ate it in one gulp and threw the peel away.

Jubilee advanced on DK, whom simply stood still with a stupid smile on his face. Jubilee lashed out her foot, striking DK in the chest. However, DK had what was called 'abs of steel', and Jubilee only succeeded in hurting her foot.

As the young mutant hopped around, clutching her injured foot, DK did a half-turn with his fists outstretched before spinning in the opposite direction in fast circles.

"Folks, while this isn't DK's most powerful move," Unknown1's voice came through the speakers. "The 'Spinning Kong' is definitely one of his most useful ones!"

Jubilee was too distracted with her foot to notice DK spinning at her. The giant ape spun into the young mutant, striking her several times before he finally stopped spinning. DK, feeling a little woozy, collapsed to his back.

Jubilee stood up and found that she was dangerously close to the ropes. Looking over her shoulder, Jubilee saw DK lying on his back, looking dizzy. Smirking to herself, Jubilee started walking towards him to throw the ape from the ring.

She took about two steps before stepping onto the banana peel DK had thrown away earlier. Jubilee slipped on the peel, flew backwards and tumbled over the ropes, falling through an elimination portal headfirst.

DK heard the announcement, leapt to his feet and waved to the cheering crowd.

Luigi saw this and shook his head. "Man. He's gotta be the luckiest of us all."

"For once, I am inclined to agree with you on that." Gannondorf sighed, folding his arms.

"Shouldn't we be fighting or something?"

The Gerudo king shrugged. "If we must."

Jubilee landed in Kingdom Hearts, where she promptly blew Oogie Boogie to kingdom come.

When Sora and the others arrived later on and couldn't find the villain, they just destroyed the castle and found the keyhole to save the world.

**(Dome; Basement) **

Unknown to everyone above the ground, another battle was taking place. This one was between Julia Chang and Gozu & Mezu. Eiji and Rasputin stood aside as Wile E continued to read his newspaper.

Julia ducked as a stream of fire flew over her head. As soon as she did, a blast of water erupted from under her feet, sending her into the air. Julia landed on her side, but quickly jumped to her feet.

"You're in way over your head, lady." Gozu said. "You should have just let us go on."

"And let you kill Eiji?" Julia asked. "No way!"

"Fine, but just remember that you're bringing this upon yourself." Mezu narrowed his eyes and lunged at the native girl.

Eiji wanted to go and help Julia, but she had insisted that she would be fine by herself. That and the battle was against Gozu and Mezu, whom doubled as two of the worst ninjas around. Eiji had a feeling that Julia could wipe the floor with them both much like he had done earlier in the night.

Julia dodged a punch from Mezu, and quickly retaliated with a kick to the blue ninja's stomach. As Mezu backed off a bit, Gozu advanced. Julia quickly got close to the floor and swung her legs, knocking both ninjas off their feet.

Gozu was the first to react. While on the floor, he shot another wave of fire at Julia. Julia luckily saw this coming and leaned to the side, allowing the fire to pass her by.

While Julia was avoiding Gozu's attack, Mezu had gotten to his feet and landed a hard kick to Julia's back. The native girl collapsed to one knee, clutching her back. This allowed Gozu the time to get up ad strike her in the face.

"Julia!" Eiji shouted as he stepped forward to assist her.

Rasputin held him back. "Fear not, Eiji. I believe she has the ability to do this."

Reluctantly, Eiji held his ground and watched as Julia blocked the following punch from Gozu, holding his fist in her hands. Julia quickly used this to her advantage and spun Gozu's arm, lifting the red-clad ninja off the ground and making him spin in the air once before landing on his back.

With Gozu on the ground, Julia spun in place and thrust her fist out. Luckily, it was a direct hit and slammed into Mezu's chin, knocking the blue ninja back a few feet.

Mezu quickly tried another water attack, but Julia quickly and casually avoided it. The blue ninja started sweating, realizing how much trouble he was in.

"I've had it just about up to HERE with you two!" Julia said as she approached Mezu, grabbed him and threw him around, making him land on top of Gozu.

The two ninjas slowly got to their feet, not wanting to believe that this simple girl was beating them. "It'll take more than that to defeat us!"

"I'm sure." Rasputin said before looking at Wile E, whom was still reading his newspaper, not really paying attention. "You wouldn't mind, would you?"

Once again, a brown thumb's up stuck into the air. Without taking his eyes off the paper, Wile E reached up, grabbed a rope hanging from the ceiling and casually pulled it.

Gozu and Mezu suddenly saw a shadow falling over them. "What the heck?" Gozu asked as he looked up.

Suddenly, a piano fell from the ceiling and directly on top of the two wannabe ninjas.

Julia stared in shock. "H-How the heck did he do that?" She asked.

"When dealing with someone like him," Rasputin said, jerking his thumb at Wile E. "It's best not to ask questions."

"Well, we'd better get out of here before these two wake up." Eiji said as Wile E activated a crane, lifting the piano off of the flattened and unconscious ninjas.

Julia and Rasputin agreed and quickly went back up the stairs leading into the dome.

Wile E simply continued to read his paper, as if nothing had happened.

**(The Arena) **

Elaine and Mai continued to fight, as they had been since the blonde woman had hit the arena. Elaine jabbed at Mai with her sword, but she only succeeded in attacking the air beside the ninja woman. Elaine quickly swung again, but Mai jumped over her blade and kicked her in the face, making her stagger back.

With Elaine distracted, Mai smirked and pulled out a few paper fans. "Let's see you stop this!" She said as she tossed all of the fans she was holding at Elaine.

Elaine shook her head. "Very stupid move, lady." She muttered. Two swings from her sword and Elaine had cleaved all of the fans tossed at her in two.

Mai quickly used this to her advantage and rushed at Elaine while the fans were distracting her. Mai lunged into the air and spun around a couple of times, aiming for Elaine.

The blonde swordswoman saw Mai spinning at her and quickly jumped to the side. Mai flew into the ropes around the arena, causing them to stretch out. Once they reached their limit, the ropes flung Mai back into the arena, straight at Elaine again.

Elaine quickly thrust her foot out, managing to hit Mai in the head. This brought the ninja out of her attack, making her fall to the ground.

Mai dizzily got to her feet and narrowed her eyes at Elaine. "You're going to pay for that." She threatened.

"Oh, am I?" Elaine asked, an eyebrow raised. "Let's see you try."

Before either woman had time to react, Venom chose that time to interfere. Swinging in on a web-line attached to the beams above the arena, Venom kicked Mai, knocking the female ninja away from Elaine.

Once Venom landed on the ground, Elaine narrowed her eyes. "I appreciate you coming in to help, but I could have handled that."

Venom smirked. "Help? No, we're looking for an easy elimination."

That made Elaine even angrier. "Okay, you know what?" She asked. "Before I continue with the half-dressed ninja, I'll kick your sorry behind into the canvas."

"We'll see who kicks who's behind!" Venom laughed and lashed out his foot.

Elaine easily blocked Venom's kick, but wasn't prepared for the punch the followed directly after it. The blonde swordswoman staggered back, holding her face in pain. She quickly recovered and started seething.

"You asked for it, you freak!" Elaine shouted as she rushed forward and started stabbing the air repeatedly.

Elaine's sword cut through the air with ease, and Venom would later admit to having a rough time trying to avoid getting attacked. However, Elaine's last strike managed to land, jabbing into Venom's shoulder. Venom howled in pain and grasped his shoulder.

In the meantime, Elaine stopped attacking and advanced. She knew that she would need to act quickly or Venom would recover and easily overpower her. Elaine forced Venom back towards the ropes and kneed him in the face, knocking him out of the arena.

However, Venom had managed to recover, and shot another web-line up to the beams above the arena. This allowed the black spider to reel himself back into the arena. Landing in the arena, Venom quickly grabbed Elaine and threw her over his shoulder, out of the ring. Elaine wasn't so fortunate as Venom, and fell through the portal.

Mai Shiranui stormed over. "That was MY elimination, you jerk!" She shouted. "I worked hard to wear her down and-"

That was all Mai could get out before Venom splattered webbing over her face.

"AND we think your voice is annoying." He said as he advanced on Mai.

Elaine landed in Star Wars: Episode 2, where she found herself caught in the crossfire between the Jedi, Jango Fett and thousands of battle droids.

Pesmerga plowed over any fighter in his path as he continued to chase down his sworn enemy, Yuber. As of now, four unfortunate fighters had found themselves trampled underneath the feet of the two knights, but neither of them paid any mind. The only thing on Pesmerga's mind was killing Yuber and the only thing on Yuber's mind was avoiding that.

"Look…Uh…Pesmerga, why don't we just sit down and discuss this?" Yuber asked, looking over his shoulder as he ran.

"I KEEEEL YOU!" Pesmerga screamed, raising his sword into the air.

Unfortunately for the black knight, he wasn't watching where he was going. Like Mai, Yuber ran straight into the ropes around the arena, making them stretch out. The ropes reached their limit again and launched Yuber back into the arena, straight into Pesmerga, knocking him to the ground.

Yuber quickly jumped to his feet and ran off, hoping to gain some distance between him and Pesmerga.

However, he was unknowingly running towards the battle Luigi and Juzoh were having with Gannondorf. Luigi saw the black knight running at him. "Hey, Juzoh. There's another villain coming over here."

The large man looked over his shoulder. "So you want me to take him?" Juzoh asked.

"Go ahead. I'll hold this guy off until you're done." Luigi said.

Jozuh nodded with a smile. "Thanks." He said as he turned around and swung his club down, smashing it over the oncoming Yuber's head. This sent the black knight back into the canvas.

Yuber slowly stood to his feet and glared daggers at Juzoh. "Do you have any idea who you're dealing with?" He asked.

"Uh…No?" Juzoh replied, scratching his head.

"I am the black knight!" Yuber shouted.

"Oh. Hello there, Mr. Black knight."

"You DARE attack me?" Yuber screamed. "I should kill you where you stand!"

"Oh…Well, that's not very nice." Juzoh said.

Yuber screamed in fury as he rushed at Juzoh. The large man simply grabbed him and tossed him over the ropes. The black knight screamed murder as he fell into elimination.

Yuber landed on the roof of a tall skyscraper. He stood up and started seething.

"CURSE YOU, PESMERGA!" Yuber screamed into the sky, waving his arms. "I COULD HAVE DOMINATED EVERYONE IN THE ARENA, BUT YOU JUST HAD TO APPEAR AND MAKE MY LIFE MISERABLE! WHEN I GET BACK TO THE DOME, I'M GONNA-"

Yuber was cut short when someone came up from behind and kicked him in the back, knocking him off the top of the building. Yuber fell down hundreds of feet to the ground below.

"Uh…Ron? I don't think that was one of Drakken's henchmen." A redhead girl with long hair said from aside.

"I know that, Kim." The teen boy with short, blonde hair replied. "I just thought that guy was getting annoying."

A small, naked mole rat popped out of his pocket. "Uh-huh!" It agreed.

Pesmerga looked around the arena for any sign of Yuber, but because he had just been eliminated, the black knight was nowhere in sight. Pesmerga growled.

"Who's the one that eliminated Yuber?" Pesmerga shouted.

"Over here!" Juzoh called out, waving at the black-haired knight.

Pesmerga silently drew his sword and walked over. However, before he got very far, Goh stepped in, delivering a hard kick to his head.

Pesmerga quickly recovered and glared at the Virtua Fighter. "Do you have a death wish?"

Goh shrugged. "Nah. I'm just looking for an elimination."

"Out of the way." Pesmerga said, being one of the many Suikoden characters who wasn't much for words.

"Afraid not." Goh said with a smirk.

"Very well." Pesmerga said simply as he narrowed his eyes and advanced and swung his sword.

Goh, being a much more agile fighter, easily dodged the attack. Pesmerga tried swinging again, but Goh held up his hands and caught Pesmerga's hand, preventing him from bringing the sword down on him.

Although Goh struggled a bit, he managed to push Pesmerga over to the ropes. Once he got close enough, Goh let go of Pesmerga and pushed him back, stunning him. This made the black-haired swordsman easy pickings for Goh to grab and toss from the arena.

Pesmerga landed on a ship out in the middle of the ocean. Pesmerga slowly stood up and looked around.

"Hmm…Don't remember you applying to be on my crew, mate."

Pesmerga looked over his shoulder and saw a very distinctive pirate walking over.

"You see, if you stow away on the Black Pearl, you'll be tossed overboard." The pirate said.

The black-haired knight didn't reply. He simply kicked Jack Sparrow in the head.

Back in the arena, Kyo Kusanagi lashed out his foot and kicked Gabby Jay in the stomach. The old boxer staggered back, in pain. In his old age, Gabby was already starting to feel like fatigue was weighing him down, despite he had only been in the arena for one section.

With Brocken eliminated, Gabby was left to fight Kyo on his own. However, it didn't really seem to matter, as the German robot didn't really contribute much to the battle to begin with.

Even still, Gabby quickly recovered and delivered a hard punch to Kyo's face. The KOF main character stepped back and shook his head.

"I'll admit that you've got more skill than people give you credit for." Kyo said. "But you've got to fall sooner or later."

"I'm well aware of that." Gabby nodded. "But I intend to fight as hard as I can until I get eliminated." He rushed at Kyo and tried another punch. "You have to admit, it's gotten me an elimination so far."

"Yeah, I'll give you that." Kyo said as he easily blocked the old man's punch. "But don't expect too much more."

"Hey, I wasn't expecting the first one." Gabby admitted. "I might surprise myself even more."

"Well, let's just see about that." Kyo said with a smirk as he sent another wave of fire at his opponent.

Gabby quickly ducked and avoided the attack, but a couple of his hairs got singed in the process. While he was at the ground, Gabby waited until the fire wave stopped before lunging upwards in an uppercut. The punch was a direct hit against Kyo's chin, making the prettyboy fly back a few feet.

Kyo landed on his back and rubbed in chin in amazement as he stood to his feet. "That was a real powerful punch, old man."

"Like I said, I've been training." Gabby replied with a smile.

"Train? You're old enough to retire."

"Boxing's my life, sonny. Unlike my mentor, Glass Joe, I'll never retire."

"Well, I think it's time to end this fight." Kyo said as he rushed at Gabby.

Seeing Kyo running at him and ignite his hand, Gabby got a little nervous. Still, he wasn't one to back away from a fight, and put up his fists.

Once Kyo got close enough, he swung his hand, which was engulfed in flames.

He struck nothing but air.

As Kyo paused in wonder at where his opponent had gone, Gabby came in from the side and slammed his gloved fist into Kyo's face. This, much to everyone's shock, sent Kyo tumbling over the ropes and out of the arena.

Kyo landed in the node of the Animaniacs. An anvil landed on him.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"I don't believe it." SSBFreak shook his head with wide eyes. "Gabby Jay's a better rumble fighter than a one-on-one fighter."

**(The Arena) **

As the carnage erupted all around him, DK was simply sitting down, eating bananas. Every time he finished one, the giant ape tossed a peel away (where, nine times out of ten, some unfortunate fighter slipped on it instantly). The only thing on the ape's mind right now was his craving for bananas rather than surviving the section.

Suddenly, something rolled into DK's side. Looking at it, he saw a small, round, green thing sitting beside him.

Thinking it was an apple, DK grinned, picked it up and bit into it. However, the only thing he did was hurt his teeth. DK grimaced and tossed the object over his shoulder, where it exploded in midair.

Rolento, the one whom had tossed the grenade in the first place, rolled over and smacked his baton over DK's head.

"I'm surprised that you had the smarts to throw that away when you did, comrade." Rolento commented. "I underestimated your brain."

DK grinned and got to his feet. The giant ape, still smiling, pulled his head back and lashed it out in a powerful headbutt. Rolento, not expecting, this, took the full effects of the attack and did a faceplant into the canvas.

Seeing his opponent on the canvas, DK pulled his fist into the air and brought it down. Rolento, however, recovered and rolled to safety as DK'sfist connected with the arena floor. The German soldier then came out of his roll, leapt into the air and whacked his baton over DK's head again.

DK easily reached behind himself, grabbed Rolento and slammed him into the canvas again

"He's pretty strong." Rolento said to himself as he got to his feet. "I haven't even made him move yet. If I'm to eliminated him, I need to be cautious."

Ducking into a roll again, Rolento flew at DK and dropped a few grenades as he went by. The grenades went off almost instantly, sending DK into the air.

Seeing his chance, Rolento leapt high into the air (at heights almost no other Street Fighter could match) and delivered a kick to the giant ape's back, knocking DK out of the arena. Rolento landed gracefully on his feet again.

Donkey Kong landed in his home node, on the beach. DK smiled, laid back onto the sand and peeled another banana.

Once Ness had eliminated Landis, he had hoped to use his psychic powers on the villains in the ring to see if they knew anything abut this dark force he and Mewtwo had been feeling all night.

However, Cecile had stepped in his way, looking for a fight.

During this fight, Ness had seen Yuber getting eliminated, thus leaving Gannondorf as the only villain in the arena. The psychic boy knew that if he were to find anything out, he'd have to finish his fight with Cecile first.

"PK Fire!" Ness shouted, throwing a bolt of fire at Cecile. The young girl quickly held up her shield, blocking the projectile, which turned into a small pillar of fire the instant it made contact with it.

"You're not letting up, are you?" Cecile asked. "That attack was a snap to block."

"No. I'm not letting up." Ness shook his head. "I never let up."

"Good. I don't want you to let up on attacking just because I'm a girl." Cecile replied.

"You kidding?" Ness chuckled. "Most of the girls in my node could kick my butt! If anything, they'd let up on ME."

"Good to hear that you never let up, though." Cecile nodded. "Let's finish this fight."

Ness smirked. "You got that right." With that, Ness crouched low. "PK Thunder!"

Cecile, seeing what had happened to Landis, held up her shield. However, instead of seeing the ball of lightning come around to hit her, she saw it fly around behind Ness. Cecile gulped and kept her shield raised, somehow thinking that it wasn't going to work.

The ball of lightning struck Ness in the back, launching the psychic boy forward several feet, straight at Cecile, covered in electric energy.

Ness flew straight into Cecile's shield, electrocuting her through it. The force from the attack sent Cecile across the arena. Once she landed, Ness rushed over to her.

Cecile slowly stood up, the effects of the electric attack still lingering. Once she was standing straight, Cecile looked ahead, and her eyes widened when she saw Ness running at her, wielding a baseball bat.

One swing later and Cecile was out of the park. Ness quickly put his bat away and rushed over to Gannondorf, whom was still fighting off Luigi and Juzoh.

Cecile landed in Toejam and Earl 2, where she proved to Peabo and Sharla that she could beatbox like any alien on the planet.

**(Dome; Recovery Room) **

Toppo walked up to the door to the Recovery Room and lightly knocked on it a couple of times. A few seconds passed before the door opened, revealing Nurse Mio.

"Ah! Toppo! Come in!" The nurse said. "What brings you here?"

Toppo walked into the Recovery Room silently, making Mio remember that he never really spoke in public.

Dr. Tuta saw Toppo and raised an eyebrow. "Toppo? What're you doing here? Surely you can't be here to wait for Shabon to arrive."

Toppo was confused, but nodded.

"You mean she was eliminated?" Tuta asked. "How long ago?"

The silent juggler paused in thought before flashing his left hand twice, then sticking two fingers into the air. He would have used his right hand as well, but the Master Sword was still in his grip.

"Twelve minutes ago?" Tuta asked. "Well, that's strange. She never showed up."

Toppo's eyes widened and his breathing quickened.

"Where could she be, then?" Mio asked.

**(Somewhere in the Hotel) **

"Leave Shabon alone, you brutes!" Shabon shouted as she thrashed against the grip of Ripper and Hopper. "What did she ever do to you?"

Shabon had spent the ten minutes in her elimination node, and was expecting to return to the Recovery Room like everyone else. However, she had appeared in a different room altogether, where Ripper and Hopper were apparently waiting for her. One of Bison's men had temporarily tampered with the teleportation device, causing Shabon to appear in an entirely different location from where she should have appeared.

The two guards simply threw Shabon to the ground. Shabon looked around the room and her eyes widened when she saw Amy Guile, Junior Maximum, King's brother Jan, Mel Masters and Louis, the squire of Chris Lightfellow, tied to chairs.

Shabon's eyes widened at the last person. "Louis! What's going on?" She asked.

Louis simply shook his head. "I don't have the slightest clue, Shabon." He said. "I can't believe I could let this happen to myself."

As Shabon looked around the room even more, she saw several villains, a good number of them looking a little beat up, scattered around the room.

"Men, the time has come to take action." M. Bison said, coming into view.

"Already, sir?" Vega asked. "But we're still down one target!"

"I'm aware of that, Vega." M. Bison said. "But Billy Kane enters in the next section, so once he enters, we won't have any problems kidnapping his sister."

"But why now?" Setsuna continued. "If I remember correctly, you were planning to put the plan into action a little later."

"I was, but plans have changed." Bison replied. "For those of you who don't know, there is a group of people aware of our little plan. Now, if it had been small, I wouldn't be worried, but now this group has gotten too large for me to ignore."

Amy's eyes lit up. "Daddy!" She said happily. "He's in the group, isn't he?"

Bison growled. "Yes, my dear. That pathetic soldier of a father of yours is indeed among this group." He then focused attention on his men. "I need a few of you to keep an eye on Lily Kane. As soon as she leaves the stands with her brother in the ring, nab her. The rest of you take the rest of these younglings to their posts."

The henchmen nodded and grabbed each of the kids, dragging them from the room one by one, despite their protests.

Once the room was empty, a small, circular shadow on the floor slid under the door.

**(Dome; Snack Bar) **

The owner of the snack bar ducked under the counter as a bolt of lightning blew off a good chunk of the top.

"Why didn't I just stay at my old job?" The owner asked himself. "The dangers were so fewer at the radioactive chemical plant."

Pichu torpedoed through the air and slammed into the Liquidator's stomach, surging him with electricity. The water dog flew back and splattered against the far wall.

Liquidator collapsed to the floor, but quickly got back up again. "Congratulations! You have just won a lifetime supply of beatings! Pick up your first sample today!"

The dog of water turned his arm into a giant fly swatter and swung it down at Pichu. The small, electric mouse, however, used his speed to his advantage, zipping out of harm's way as the fly swatter slammed into the ground, turning into a puddle of water.

Liquidator summoned the water back to his arm and rushed at Pichu again.

The small Pokemon smiled. "Pichu!" He shouted, shoving his face forward and creating a small ball of electricity. Liquidator quickly created a wall of water in front of him, which absorbed Pichu's attack. As soon as Pichu stopped charging his attack, Liquidator shoved his watery hand through the wall and punched the small Pokemon in the face, sending him across the room.

"Feeling down in the dumps? Need a little pick-me-up?" Liquidator said as he walked over to the fallen Pokemon. "Then call 555-LIQUIDATOR!"

With that, the water dog picked the small, yellow rat off the ground and threw him across the room again. This time, Pichu was a little more agile, as he turned himself over in midair, landed on his feet and flew at Liquidator.

As soon as he arrived at Liquidator's feet, Pichu shoved his small hands into the air. "PICHUUU!" He screamed.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt shot down right where Pichu was standing (which didn't really make a lot of sense considering that the snack bar was indoors). And because Pichu was standing so close to Liquidator, the water dog was affected as well. Liquidator shot into the air as Pichu ran underneath him.

Pichu crouched low and awaited Liquidator to fall close enough. Once he did, Pichu did a backflip, surging his tail with electricity. Liquidator fell straight into the attack, howled in pain, split in half and fell to the floor in two puddles.

"Dance, water! Dance!" Gadget Z shouted from the doorway. He was then on his merry way with a still-confused Musafar behind him.

The small Pokemon looked back and forth between the two puddles and smiled triumphantly, thinking he had won. "Pi!" He said in victory.

Suddenly, the two puddles of water slid towards the doorway to the snack bar, joined together and formed the Liquidator again, who looked at Pichu angrily.

For once, the dog of water said nothing. He simply growled at Pichu and fled the scene. Said small Pokemon happliy walked over to a table, where Benimaru Nikaido was eating a bowl of rice.

"Hey, little buddy." Benimaru greeted as Pichu jumped up onto a chair. "I got you a bowl of rice if you wanted it. I figured you earned it after that battle."

"Pichu!" Pichu said in thanks as he started eating.

**(The Arena) **

Gannondorf pulled his fist back as he blocked a punch from Luigi with his other hand. Luigi suddenly saw the Gerudo king's fist become engulfed with a strange, purple energy.

"Crap!" Luigi shouted as he backed away.

Gannondorf lunged forward in a Warlock Punch, which would have been powerful enough to send an unprepared person across the arena easily. However, since Luigi had seen this coming and had backed away, the punch hit nothing but air.

Seeing his punch get avoided, Ganondorf growled and prepared to attack. And he would have, had Juzoh not smashed his club over the evil king's head. Rubbing his head, Gannondorf stood straight and glared at Juzoh. "I'll kill you for that, you know."

Juzoh scratched his head, shrugged and smashed his club over Gannondorf's head again.

Luigi sighed. "It's not a good move to make him angry, man." He told Juzoh. "He's one of the strongest characters in our node."

Juzoh again shrugged. "So? I've fought stronger."

Gannondorf's eyes snapped open. Luigi stared at Juzoh with wide eyes. "Oh, you did NOT just say that."

"Why? What's so wrong about saying there are people stronger than him?" Juzoh asked.

"You see, Gannondorf considers himself the strongest." Luigi explained.

"But…He's not." Juzoh said. "In fact, I can think of five people right off the top of my head who-"

Gannondorf roared as he flew at Juzoh. Luigi tried stepping in the way, but all that got him was a hard punch in the face, knocking him aside. The evil king pulled his fist back and thrust it forward.

It landed straight into Juzoh's open palm.

As soon as it had made contact, Juzoh gripped Gannondorf's fist in his palm tightly, although he still wore the usual, happy expression on his face.

"You know? Killing people isn't very nice." Juzoh said. Gannondor started wincing in pain as Juzoh's grip on his fist got tighter and tighter by the second. "You should find a better hobby. Maybe origami or something like that. Because honestly, senseless killing isn't really going to get you anywhere. Say, I should probably just let you go. Have a nice day, now!"

With that, Juzoh picked Gannondorf up by his fist and hurled him out of the arena.

Gannndorf landed the node of Dilbert. It was a weekend, so the office was empty, leaving no one for Gannondorf to kill.

The Gerudo king sighed as he sat down on a chair. Then glancing beside him, he saw a piece of paper on a desk. He absent-mindedly picked it up and started folding it.

Luigi stood up and saw the Gannondorf was gone. He then saw Ness walking up beside him.

"You could have used your powers to read his mind and find out what's going on, you know." Luigi suggested.

"I tried." Ness replied. "There's something deep within Gannondorf's head that somehow manages to block my telepathy. I just can't seem to read his mind."

"So what're you going to do, then?" Luigi asked.

"Wait for a villain with a weaker mind to enter the ring." Ness said simply as he walked off without another word.

Luigi scratched his head for a few seconds before he felt something strike his foot. Looking down, he saw an active grenade. Luigi's eyes snapped open as he dove to the side. Once he was out of the way, the grenade exploded.

Looking at where the grenade had come from, he saw Rolento perched on top of one of the turnbuckles.

"Your awareness in commendable, comrade." Rolento said. "Much like that giant ape I tossed out a few minutes ago."

"You're pretty quick yourself." Luigi added. "I've played the games you were in."

Rolento smirked. "Glad to hear it, comrade. But that was a game. This is real."

"Then I hope you're tougher to beat here." Luigi chuckled, putting up his fists.

The German leapt from the turnbuckle, straight at Luigi. The green-clad plumber shoved his hand out, launching a green fireball at the oncoming German. Rolento anticipated this and swatted the fireball away with his baton.

Rolento landed on his feet, still a good ten feet away from Luigi. The German soldier then broke into a run and dashed at Luigi, pulling out a grenade at the same time. Once he got close enough, Rolento swung his baton at Luigi's head. The younger Mario brother quickly and easily blocked the swing with both hands as Rolento flew by.

As soon as he went by, Rolento jumped, turned around in midair and hurled the grenade at Luigi. The thin plumber saw the grenade land on the canvas and kicked it away (where it exploded, sending Venom and Mai into the air).

Rolento smirked at his opponent's quick reactions. "Good. A challenge." He said as he rushed forward again.

Luigi saw Rolento rushing at him and shoved his fist out. The timing couldn't have been more perfect, as Rolento ran straight into the fist. The German quickly recovered, crouched low and slid forward, knocking Luigi off his feet.

Rolento was about to use this to his advantage and throw Luigi from the ring, but the plumber had already jumped to his feet.

"Pretty quick, eh?" Luigi said with a smirk.

Rolento was given time to react. Luigi had already delivered his Flaming Coinbox Jump to his chin. Rolento rocketed high into the air as Luigi jumped after him. Luigi then sent Rolento out of the arena with a well-placed karate chop.

Rolento landed in Bomberman.

…Oh, come on. Two guys throwing unlimited explosives at each other. How do YOU think that turned out?

Although Rolento's grenade had thrown them off a bit, it still didn't stop Venom and Mai from continuing their battle. The two had been battling ever since Venom had eliminated Elaine, which had been a while by now.

Mai landed a hard kick against Venom's face, making the black spider stagger back. Venom looked at Mai and saw her running at him. He smirked.

"Venom Fang!"

Venom did a small jump forward, somehow turning himself into a blob with razor sharp teeth. Mai flew into the attack, but managed to avoid any damage by leaping to the side. However, that didn't stop Venom from sinking his teeth into the tail of her outfit.

"Let go, you freak!" Mai said as she delivered another hard kick, this time into Venom's side. This not only made the mutant let go of Mai's outfit, but got rid of his blob-like appearance, returning him to his normal form.

Venom quickly jumped to his feet and kicked Mai in the stomach. Mai clutched her stomach, but not before she released a fan and sent it straight into the toothy anti-hero's eye. Venom roared as he plucked the fan out of his organ of sight and tossed it away.

"You've just made us mad!" Venom shouted.

"Bring it, Jaws!" Mai shouted back.

Mai lunged at Venom and spun around several times. Venom blocked the attack, but what he didn't notice was the Mai had created a few waves of fire around her, and his arms had felt the full effect.

Venom again howled in pain as he dropped his guard and backed off. Mai smirked as he ran at her opponent.

Despite that he was in pain, Venom was still aware of Mai coming at him. As Mai got close enough, Venom reached out, grabbed her and threw her from the arena.

Now that his opponent was gone, Venom did a quick scan of the arena. "Rats. The ice girl is gone. We were hoping for her to cool off our arms."

Mai had landed in Dead or Alive, where she accused Kasumi of stealing her look.

Only one more elimination was needed to end the section, and everyone now knew that. This made everyone pick up the pace a bit to try and eliminate one more person so that they could continue on to the next section.

Goh lashed out his fist, but the only thing it struck was the gloved hands of Gabby Jay. Said old boxer then thrust a punch into Goh's face, which the assassin blocked himself.

Although the two were pretty evenly matched, Goh had one thing Gabby didn't: The ability to kick, which he quickly put to his advantage, kicking the old man in the stomach.

Now, it was bad enough that he wasn't used to actually doing WELL in the arena, but Gabby's old age just made the pain worse. Gabby hunched over, grasping his own stomach. Goh advanced with a smirk.

Still clutching his stomach, Gabby lashed out with his left hand and jabbed Goh in the face. As Goh staggered back, this gave Gabby enough time to stand straight and forget about the pain.

The old, French boxer pounded his fists together and rushed forward, straight at Goh. In all of the years Gabby had been boxing, he always had a determined look on his face. Even after the countless matches he kept losing, Gabby still remained determined.

But now, it was a different look of determination on his face. No one knew what it said, but it would have been enough to make an average person actually afraid of the old man.

Goh, however, wasn't your average person. He saw the look on Gabby's face, smirked and advanced himself.

The two fighters each pulled a fist back and lashed it out. The two fists collided with an amazingly powerful force. So powerful that the others in the arena could have sworn that the arena shook.

As quick as their first punch, Goh and Gabby lashed out their other fists, which also hit each other.

Goh and Gabby continued hitting each other's fists at surprising speeds. However, Gabby, being much older than Goh, was quickly tiring out. So he did the one thing that broke the chain of punches.

He ducked.

Goh's last punch soared over Gabby's head. Seizing the opportunity, Gaby grabbed Goh's arm with one hand and put the other at his chest. Then, using all his might, the old boxer threw the much younger, and now much angrier, Goh out of the arena.

Goh landed in Hitman, where he felt right at home.

Back in the arena, Gabby Jay was now doing his 'happy chicken dance' in excitement, seeing as how he had three eliminations and already he had broken his boxing winning record. The other five fighters were scattered around the arena. Luigi was looking a little tired, but was looking okay. Venom still looked reasonably fresh, but was starting to show some signs of fatigue. Ken looked the freshest of the bunch, and brushed his hair back with his hand. Juzoh yawned and rotated his arm a few times. Ness sat on one of the turnbuckles, keeping his energy for the next villain to enter the arena.

The next wave of fighters were about to enter, and everyone (save Gabby Jay, whom was still doing his strange dance) turned to the curtain to see them come in.

**RESULTS**

NESS (SSB)

JUZOH KANZAKI (LB)

GABBY JAY (SPO!)

VENOM (MC)

KEN MASTERS (SFA3)

LUIGI MARIO (SSB)

**(ELIMINATED)**

GOH HINOGMI (VF)

DONKEY KONG (SSB)

LANDIS (S3)

ROLENTO SHUGERG (SFA3)

MAI SHIRANUI (KOF)

GANNONDORF DRAGMIRE (SSB)

CECILE (S3)

KULA DIAMOND (KOF)

KYO KUSANAGI (KOF)

PESMERGA (S2)

ELAINE (S3)

JUBILEE (MC)

YUBER (S3)

BROCKEN (WH)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Ninja's Revenge" **

JULIA CHANG (T5) _**kicks the sorry behinds of**_ GOZU and MEZU (KE)

"**Electric Flood" **

PICHU (SSB) _**shocks**_ LIQUIDATOR (DWD)

Eliminations: Ness, Juzoh, Gabby Jay and Venom, 2; Ken, Luigi, Goh, Donkey Kong, Landis and Rolento, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: R. Mika (8), King (7), Bruce Irvin (6), Peach Toadstool (5), Lucky Glauber (5), Chang Koehan (5), Heavy D! (5)


	30. Section Fourteen

**(The Arena) **

There were now six fighters in the arena. In order to get back up to the usual twenty, fourteen new fighters had to enter. The remaining fighters weren't really paying attention to this, as they were trying to recover as much of their energy as they could. Suddenly, everyone heard an insanely loud cheer. Everyone looked at the curtain as the next fighter stepped onto the ramp.

"**JIN KAZAMA!" (T5) **

Jin walked down the ramp leading to the arena, waving a few times. He then looked up at the Eliminated Seating and saw his father, Kazuya Mishima, sitting there. Jin smirked, placed his thumb against his nose and wiggled his fingers.

Kazuya's eyes snapped open before he growled.

Once Jin hit the arena, he quickly went over to Ken Masters. "I seek a challenge." Jin said simply.

Ken smirked. "Well, you've come to the right place." He replied confidently.

"One thing to consider, though." Jin pointed out.

"Yeah?"

"Lose the overconfidence. You're sounding like Hwoarang."

Ken's face fell, remembering how well the redhead did back in Section One.

"**MAXIMA!" (KOF) **

The Canadian cyborg couldn't believe his horrible luck. If only Kula had managed to last one more section. Then the two of them could have double-teamed a bit.

But since she had been eliminated, Maxima decided to settle for taking out everyone else alone.

On his way down to the arena, Maxima looked around. He spotted Juzoh and realized that he, being of similar size to Maxima himself, could prove a challenge.

Maxima hit the arena and quickly went over to Juzoh, and would have made it had Venom not land on him from above.

"**VEGA!" (SFA3) **

The vain matador slid his mask onto his face and pointed his claw down at the arena.

"Let's see if they can damage this pretty face of mine." Vega said to himself as he flew down the ramp, his feet not making a sound.

Gabby Jay saw him come in and went over. "You have a scar you're not too proud of, sonny?"

"What? No." Vega said. "I just don't want anyone touching my beautiful face."

Gabby Jay shook his head and walked away. "Man. And I thought Narcis Prince was vain."

"**RYOFU!" (WH) **

The tall soldier came out from the curtain to a mixed reaction (much like the reaction the World Heroes gang was getting the entire night), but he paid it no mind.

"Well, my node has seen a surprising amount of success thus far." Ryofu mused. "Let's see if I can add to it at all."

Once Ryofu hit the ring, people noticed that his spear was taller than he was, if that was possible. In fact, no one stepped up to challenge the giant.

Well, no one but Ness, that is. Jumping down from the turnbuckle he was still perched on, Ness strolled over to face Ryofu, whom was at least four feet taller than him.

"Something you want?" Ryofu asked.

"I wish for a fight." Ness explained. "Or at least one until a villain enters." He was unaware of Vega being a villain, as he wasn't giving off a very dark aura as of yet.

"But…You're so small…"

"And?" Ness asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ryofu paused and shrugged, not being one to turn down an easy elimination. "Okay. Have it your way."

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Toppo rushed down the hallway, looking everywhere for Shabon. Being her guardian, Toppo felt responsible for her safety, and when he had heard that Shabon hadn't appeared in the Recovery Room, he made it his goal to find her.

That and Nei would have his head if she found out he let anything happen to Shabon.

The silent juggler scratched his head as he came up empty-handed on yet another hallway. He knew that he'd have to speed up the process if he was to find Shabon quickly.

Toppo paused for a second and looked at the Master Sword, which still rested in his hand. At first, Toppo thought that it was unusual for him to come upon such a powerful weapon, and in a fighting arena of all places.

But now, Toppo was beginning to think that maybe it was destiny that he was the one to pick up the blade. If anything had happened to Shabon, Toppo could easily destroy the vermin responsible.

The silent juggler was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a very fast breathing coming from around the corner. Turning to his right, he drew the Master Sword and awaited the person to come around the corner.

Around the corner came Sodom, looking severely out of breath. The American samurai collapsed to the ground, directly at Toppo's feet.

The juggler's eyes widened, realizing that this man meant him no harm. He was about to help Sodom to his feet when two more people appeared, coming from another direction. When the figures came into view, Toppo saw that one was a male and the other was a female. The male was black with white hair and the female was white with red hair. Both of their eyes looked cold and emotionless.

Seth stepped walking and looked at the weapon in Toppo's hand. "Object identified as the Master Sword." He droned.

"Warning: Target could prove a threat to master Bison's plan." Vanessa droned.

Without warning, both Seth and Vanessa got into their stances. "Target acquired. Eliminate all threats." They both said at the same time.

Toppo knew that these two were brainwashed, and that they wouldn't let up until they succeeded in their goal or were defeated. Not allowing himself to be killed, Toppo got into a stance and prepared the Master Sword for battle.

**(The Arena) **

"**ZELDA!" (SSB) **

Coming out to the traditional Zelda theme, the princess of Hyrule burst out from the curtain, beaming with extreme happiness. The bubbly princess waved to the cheering crowd many times as she skipped down the ramp, giggling the entire way down.

Luigi saw Zelda's strange attitude change and came over. "Uh…Zelda?"

Zelda was instantly in Luigi's face. "HI, WEEGIE!" She shouted. "Oh, I am like, so stoked to see that you're still in the arena! SQUEE! It feels so good to get out of that gross locker room, y'know?"

The green-clad plumber stepped back in surprise. "But…Aren't you still mad?"

Zelda giggled. "Mad? Like, why would I be mad, Weegie? Link just went and lost the stupid ol' Master Sword and all that, but hey! Stuff happens, y'know what I'm saying?" The Hyrulian princess replied.

Luigi stood in silence before slinking away, leaving Zelda to continue ranting.

**(SSB Locker Room) **

"I KNEW there was a reason I held onto these things." Captain Falcon said as he fingered a capsule of caffeine pills in his hand.

"I never thought I'd say this, Douglas." Mewtwo said, arms folded. "But you're a genius."

**(The Arena) **

"**CHRIS LIGHTFELLOW!" (S3) **

"_She's that kinda girl who takes a chance" _

"_She's living for a harlequin romance" _

"_She believes in every love lie she hears" _

"_Throw her a line and she'll take it in"_

The last of Suikoden 3's main characters came out to a loud cheer, but Chris wasn't really paying attention. In fact, she was almost oblivious to 'Ms. Innocence' by Wilshire coming through the speakers.

"_I wonder where Louis went to."_ Chris thought. _"It's not like him to disappear the way he did."_

"_Whatcha gonna do when it all comes down?" _

"_Mr. Anybody won't be around" _

"_When it comes crashing to the ground" _

"_Ms. Innocence" _

"_What have you lost or found?"_

Chris hit the arena and looked around for help. Seeing that she was currently the only Suikoden fighter in the ring, Chris sighed and decided to pick a fight with Vega.

The Spanish matador saw her come over and bowed. "Ah. Such a lovely lady with a beautiful face." He said. "I cannot comprehend to how beautiful you are."

"If you're trying to hit on me, forget it." Chris said. "I am immune to bad pickup lines like that."

Vega chuckled and pulled out a rose. "Very well. Have it your way, my dear."

"_Besides."_ Chris thought. _"Fanfic writers pair me up with enough people as it is."_

"**KUROKO!" (SS) **

The black-garbed judge of the Samurai Showdown series stood outside the curtain, arms behind his back. As a good amount of the crowd cheered him on, Kuroko whipped out two flags and ran down to the ring.

Once he landed, he quickly looked at the battle Jin and Ken were having. He quickly lashed out his palms and sent a very familiar fireball into Ken's back.

This stopped the fight the two karate users were having. They quickly looked at Kuroko, whom held a red flag in the air.

"You have both been given a red flag!" Kuroko shouted. "You must now allow me to eliminate you!"

Ken looked at Jin. "I'll be right back as soon as I deal with the punk."

"I'll help." Jin grunted, his eyes focused on Kuroko.

As Ken and Jin advanced on the judge together, none of the three noticed the spotlight shining on the entrance curtain again.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**FOURTEEN**!"

"**XIGBAR!" (Kingdom Hearts 2) **

Organization XIII member number II came out from behind the curtain, carrying both of his guns. Waving to the crowd, Xigbar casually walked down to the arena, his black cloak almost touching the ground.

Being invited to this tournament meant Xigbar had to follow a few rules, such as not summon any Nobodies and prevent himself from going into his 'invincible' mode. Xigbar didn't care if he wasn't allowed to do those things. He only wanted to fight with some of the best there was to offer.

Once he stepped into the arena, Xigbar fired his gun at Zelda, whom surrounded herself with a spinning, blue diamond to reflect the shot.

"Like, that TOTALLY wasn't nice, okay?" Zelda said with her usual (by now) giggle. "But, seeing as you're like, new, I suppose I could like, forgive you and stuff."

"Uh…Thanks?" Xigbar said.

"…Ah, who am I kidding?" Zelda said just before she dove at Xigbar and latched onto him. "SQUEEEE! You're so TOTALLY hot!"

Xigbar was silent, not really sure how to respond to something like this.

"**KATHY!" (S3) **

The young rancher of Budehuc came out with a smile on her face and a whip in her hand. Normally, Kathy didn't fight, but this was a chance that just couldn't be passed up.

The energetic girl hit the ring and looked around. She decided on going over to fight Juzoh. To do so, Kathy walked around the fight Maxima was having with Venom.

"Howdy!" Kathy said as she walked over to Juzoh.

"Hi!" Juzoh greeted back. "Lovely weather we're having!"

"Yeah, we sure are!" Kathy nodded. "Say, ah couldn't help but notice that yer without an opponent, partner."

Juzoh scratched his head. "Well, yeah. But I'm not really into fighting that much."

"Eh, me neither. But this here IS a fightin' tournament, ya know." Kathy continued. "So, ya wanna challenge little ol' me?"

The large man shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

**(Dome; Gym) **

"Man. What the heck happened here?" Brad Burns asked as he walked into the almost-totaled gymnasium. "It looks like a tornado came through here or something."

Brad wasn't too far off from the truth. The damage from Eiji Kisaragi's fight with Gozu and Mezu was bad enough, but what made it look worse was the damaged floors and burnt walls caused when Billy Kane fought off Sabretooth.

The Virtua Fighter saw a couple of undamaged weights, shrugged and went over to begin working out.

During his workout, Brad contemplated how he might have done better in the ring. Athena had tossed him out pretty quickly, sure. But that was mainly because she was using projectiles over and over again. Maybe if he had chosen a different opponent, Brad could have survived longer and possibly even get an elimination like Kage and Goh.

"Eh, there's always next year." Brad shrugged as he continued lifting weights. "I hear SSBFreak has an even bigger tournament planned next time."

Suddenly, Brad heard a sound coming from the hallway outside the gym that made him freeze. It sounded like someone was talking, but the words were all muffled. However, Brad managed to make out 'Help' and instantly knew someone was in trouble.

"Keep him quiet, will you?" A voice whispered loudly.

"Hey! There's only so much I can do with both of my hands being used, ya know!" A louder voice said.

Creeping up to the doorway, Brad was careful not to make any noises, especially since they would be amplified in the gym. Slowly, Brad approached the door, stopped near it and peeked out.

Looking outside, he saw Juggernaut walking down the hallway with a bound and gagged Mel Masters in his arms. Following him were Setsuna, Toad, Balrog and the brainwashed Jin Chonshu.

Narrowing his eyes, Brad decided to take action. The boxer jumped out from the door and slammed his fist into the face of the first fighter he saw, which was Balrog.

Balrog staggered to the side a couple of steps, but quickly regained his composure. "Why don't you-" He said before he saw whom was standing in front of him.

"Drop the kid and leave right now, buster." Brad threatened.

Balrog smirked, then looked at the others. "I got this one, guys. You go on ahead."

The others continued on. Brad tried to follow with hopes of saving Mel, but Balrog stopped him.

"You're that boxer from the Virtua Fighter node, aren't ya?" Balrog said with a smirk. "Good. I've been itching for a fight with another boxer for a long time now."

"Well, don't expect me to fight dirty." Brad said. "Like you."

Balrog's eyes narrowed. "Okay. I'm gonna give you another punch for that one."

"Bring it, you has-been!" Brad shouted.

**(The Arena) **

"**JOKER!" (KE) **

Up in the Eliminated Seating, Geddoe and Queen did a double-take until they saw that the Joker skating down to the ring wasn't their Joker.

The Kizuna Encounter Joker laughed maniacally as he jumped into the arena. "Now then, whom shall I take out first?"

Ness suddenly felt a dark aura coming from Joker and looked up at Ryofu. "I apologize, but I have another fight to attend to."

"Of course." Ryofu bowed, then went off to start a fight with Xigbar, whom still had Zelda latching onto him.

With Ryofu gone, Ness turned his attention to Joker. "Time to find out what's going on."

"**TERRY BOGARD!" (KOF) **

To wild cheering, the elder Bogard brother came out from behind the curtain, took off his hat and waved to the crowd around him.

Terry ran down to the arena and leapt in. Luigi and Gabby Jay rushed at him together, seeing him as a threat.

One Power Wave was all it took to send Luigi reeling, and a few punches later, Gabby Jay was knocked aside as well.

"Come on! Is there no challenge?" Terry asked loud enough so that everyone would hear. "Bring it on!"

"**BILLY KANE!" (FF) **

Terry paled.

"_Here I stand upon this stage" _

"_Surrounded by a see-through cage" _

"_I'm content to sing and shout" _

"_If you're content to hear me out" _

"_I've got a reason to rock this place!"_

Billy Kane stood outside the entrance curtain, smirking and tapping his cane against his shoulder. His song, 'Rock and Roll' by Bleach, blared through the speakers.

"_And so I'm turning up my mic" _

"_I'm gonna rock and roll all night" _

"_In ultrasonic stereo" _

"_I'll tell you about the one I know" _

"_I've got a reason to rock this place!"_

Billy's gaze was directed straight at Terry. Sure, they were more friendly rivals now, but that didn't stop Billy from fighting Terry. No, not in the least.

In the crowd, Lily Kane watched her elder brother run down the ramp, stick his staff into the ground and pole-vault into the arena. The crowd clapped and cheered at the great display.

Billy ran straight at Terry, a confident smirk plastered on his face the entire way.

"**SARAH BRYANT!" (VF) **

Jacky may have already been eliminated, but his twin sister Sarah was more than ready to make up for it. The blonde-haired woman (who looked remarkably similar to Nina Williams, Tekken fans noted) ran down to the arena and jumped in.

Seeing as how he was the only one without a fight, (and how well he had done thus far) Sarah went over to Luigi first.

"Let's see if I can end this little winning streak of yours." Sarah said with a smirk.

"You sound pretty confident, miss." Luigi replied. "Get ready!, because I won't hold back!"

"And now, the final fighter of this section…"

"**WOLVERINE!" (MC) **

"_Welcome to Canada, it's the Maple Leaf State" _

"_Canada, oh Canada! It's great!" _

"_The Great White North, their kilts are plaid" _

"_Hosers take off. It's not half bad!" _

"_I want to be where yaks can run free" _

"_And where the Royal Mounties can arrest me!"_

To 'Oh, Canada' by Five Iron Frenzy, the spandex-wearing, clawed Canadian came out and instantly shot a death glare at the Sound Booth, where Shadow, Astaroth and Aila were almost dying of laughter.

Wolverine sighed, pulled on his mask and walked down the ramp to the arena.

"_Let's go to Canada!" _

"_Let's leave today!" _

"_Canada! Oh, Canada!" _

"_I Si Vous Plait!"_

Once Wolverine landed in the arena, Maxima looked at him. "Hey, Logan! Over here!"

Wolverine walked over to his fellow Canadian. "Yeah, Max?"

"You up for a little double-teaming?" Maxima asked, pointing at Venom.

Wolverine smirked as his claws appeared. "You read my mind, buddy! Let's rumble!"


	31. Section Fourteen Results

**(The Arena) **

Terry and Billy clashed again. Every time Terry attempted an attack, Billy blocked it with his staff, and every time Billy swung his weapon, Terry either caught it or dodged the blow altogether. This seemed natural, as the two had always been evenly matched, even when they were enemies rather than friendly rivals.

"In all honesty, you brought this on yourself, Bogard." Billy said, "If I remember correctly, you were asking for a challenge just before I entered the ring."

"But you would have come to challenge me even if I had said nothing." Terry replied.

Billy shrugged as he blocked another of Terry's punches. "Yeah. I admit you've got me there."

Terry stepped back and straightened his hat. "Well, if we're evenly matched, how do you expect either one of us to win? We could be going at this all night."

Billy was silent. Indeed, he wanted to fight Terry, but he didn't want to spend the entire night with just one opponent. He raised his staff. "Ten more minutes."

Terry smirked. "Okay!"

Across the arena, Xigbar, the latest Mystery Fighter, fired a laser bolt from his left-hand gun, sending it into Juzoh's back. The Organization member would have used both guns, but he found that hard to do with Zelda latched onto his right arm like a rabid fangirl.

Zelda purred and nuzzled against Xigbar's shoulder. The gunslinging Nobody sweatdropped. "Now I know how Axel, Roxas and Demyx feel." He muttered as he fired another laser bolt, this time at Ken Masters.

Xigbar took a quick glance up at the Eliminated Seating and scanned it. He sighed in relief when he noticed the Link wasn't there. Xigbar wasn't afraid of many things, but he knew that angering Link would be suicide.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Marth scratched his head. "That's weird. I've never seen Zelda act like this before."

Sitting beside him, Peach shrugged. "Well, anything is possible."

"I know, but something tells me a certain hotshot racer had something to do with this."

**(SSB Locker Room) **

Captain Falcon sneezed, falling onto his back.

**(Kizuna Encounter Locker Room) **

Rosa sighed and looked around. SSBFreak and Unknown1 had been generous enough to give their node a half-decent locker room, which was in itself something that she hadn't been expecting.

The swordswoman sighed. Over he course of the night, most of the fighters from the Kizuna Encounter node had entered the arena and were tossed almost instantly. Max Eagle had lasted the longest, and he didn't even get an elimination before getting tossed. Only four were left to enter: Herself, the giant cop Gordon, the old Chung, and Gozu, whom, like Mezu, had been absent from the Locker Room the entire night.

"Look, it's not that I don't want the elimination," Gordon told Chung, seemingly oblivious to Rosa. "It's just that I don't think Joker should be the one to get one."

"I didn't say I disagreed with you, sonny." Chung replied. "Someone needs to take that punk down." A sly smirk floated across the old man's face. "Maybe Terry Bogard."

Gordon chuckled. "You know? I find it weird that I'm looking at you AND watching Terry, whom in our node is at least twenty years older than you."

"As do I, but this just means that he's in his prime!" Chung said. He then held onto the baseball cap on his head. "Terry gave me this cap when I was just a kid! Seeing him fight in his younger years again is a dream come true for me!"

Yeah, it's confusing. But nodes set in the future can do that.

**(The Arena) **

Ness was keeping a close eye on Joker, whom was skating around Luigi. The young boy's eyes were narrowed in concentration as he tried to read Joker's mind.

However, in order for Ness' psychic abilities to come into use, his target had to be standing still, which was something Joker definitely wasn't doing.

"Hold still, darn it!" Ness muttered as he tried concentrating harder. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get into Joker's mind. Growling, the young boy charged forward.

Luigi swung his fist at Joker, but the rollerskating clown ducked under the blow and proceeded to kick the green-clad plumber in the stomach.

As much as Luigi hated to admit it, this guy was surprising him. _"Well, seeing Gabby Jay get three eliminations, I guess anything's possible."_ He thought.

Joker swung his fist, laughing maniacally. Luigi avoided the blow and, seeing his chance, retaliated with an uppercut. Joker flew back several feet and landed on his side, but he was nowhere close to being eliminated. The evil clown jumped to his feet and charged again, sliding forward with one foot forward.

Luigi wasn't expecting this, and the attack knocked him off his feet. The green-clad plumber quickly jumped up again. "Okay, so I've been letting my guard down because you're from the Kizuna Encounter node. I'll remember not to do that anymore.

Joker cackled. "I guess this means that I'm the best of the bunch if I could surprise you like that."

Joker advanced on Luigi again, and took about three steps before Ness entered the picture and jumped onto his back, knocking and pinning him to the canvas.

Luigi sweatdropped. "Uh…Ness?"

"I had to find some way to make him stand still." Ness replied simply as he pressed his hands against the sides of Joker's head and started concentrating.

After a few seconds, Ness stopped and sighed. _"I was right. Something's definitely going on."_

The psychic boy got off the Kizuna Encounter fighter, lifted him up using his mind and chucked him out of the arena. {Now I just need to survive until Mewtwo enters the ring.}

Joker landed in a dark warehouse. He stood up and looked around. Seeing the warehouse was empty, he sighed in relief, figuring that he was one of the luckier fighters from his node.

"Hey! You copycat!"

Joker turned to see a crazy girl dressed in a jester outfit charging at him with a gigantic hammer.

"No ones steals Mistah J's look while I'm around! Nobody!" The clown girl screamed.

Back in the arena, Xigbar growled as he hit Ryofu over the head with one of his guns. This fight would have been so much easier for him if Zelda wasn't still latched onto his other arm.

Zelda squealed in delight as Xigbar held up his gun and blocked a swing from Ryofu's spear. "You're, like, fighting so well! You can totally beat this guy with one hand!"

"Well, I would use both of my hands if you would just let go of it!" Xigbar said. "So let go!"

"Nah-uh!" Zelda shook her head and nuzzled against Xigbar's shoulder again.

Ryofu paused his attacking and scratched his head. "You mean that you've got a fangirl and you're actually trying to get rid of her?"

"Having a fangirl I can handle." Xigbar muttered. "It's just the fact that this one won't give me back my arm!"

"But you're, like, doing so well without it." Zelda said dreamily as she tightened her grip on Xigbar's arm.

Xigbar sighed, realizing that nothing would get through to this girl. Deciding to continue the fight, Xigbar fired two laser bolts at Ryofu, whom easily used his spear to block them.

Ryofu charged at Xigbar, preparing to run Xigbar through with his weapon. Xigbar rushed to the side, although he struggled due to the fact that he was dragging Zelda with him. As soon as Ryofu passed, Xigbar clocked him in the head with his gun, making the giant man stagger forward, towards the ropes.

With Ryofu distracted, Xigbar tried to run forward, but with Zelda being dragged along, his speed was slowed down considerably.

Ryofu turned in time to see Xigbar raising his foot.

With no other alternative available at the moment, Xigbar landed a well-placed kick against Ryofu's face, making him tumble over the ropes.

Zelda, hearing the announcement, squealed again. "You did it! Oh, you're totally amazing!" She told Xigbar. "Doesn't that, like, feel great!"

"Peachy. Now will you please let go of my arm?" Xigbar said.

"Never!" Zelda said.

Ryofu landed in New Super Mario Bros., where a gigantic Dry Bones stepped on him.

Kuroko wasn't going to admit it anytime soon, but he was fighting a losing battle. Being a judge, Koroku had always assumed he had more authority over the others. However, right now, things weren't looking too good for him.

No matter how many times he slapped Ken Masters and Jin Kazama with a penalty for assaulting a judge and demanded they eliminate themselves, nothing worked and the double-teaming juts got more intense.

Jin landed a hard kick against Kuroko's back, and Ken continued with a Dragon Uppercut to the judge's face.

As Kuroko was still in midair, he held up a red flag. "Penalty!" He shouted as he fell towards the ground. "You have each received a penalty for disrespectful and brutal double-teaming! As punishment, you must allow me to eliminate you!"

"Are you kidding me?" Ken shouted as he jumped into the air and kicked Kuroko, kicking him towards Jin, whom caught him and slammed him into the ground.

While Kuroko was getting up, Jin pulled his fist back and engulfed it in a strange electricity.

Kuroko saw what was going to happen, but instead of doing something about it, he pulled out another flag and stared waving it. "Penalty! You finish that move and you would have done a-"

That was all the black-garbed judge could get out before Jin's fist slammed into his stomach. The sheer power of the punch sent Kuroko flying towards the battle Terry and Billy were having.

With Kuroko gone, Jin looked back at Ken. "Well, it doesn't look like either of us will get the pleasure of eliminating him."

Ken shrugged. "Eh, at least we got to whale on him."

"True."

In the meantime, Billy saw the black-clad judge flying at them and smirked. "Heads up, Bogard."

Terry glanced over his shoulder and saw Kuroko flying at him. Quickly acting, Terry spun around.

"OVERHEAT GEYSER!"

Terry slammed his fist into the ground, sending a huge wave of fire-like energy into the air. The timing was perfect, as Kuroko was directly in the line of the attack when it was put into action. Taking full force from Terry's most powerful super move, Kuroko flew clear out of the arena, waving both flags and screaming "PENALTYYYYY!".

Terry turned and saw Billy leaning on his staff, patiently waiting for his rival to finish. "Thanks."

"Hey, I couldn't just stand by and let that loudmouth take you by surprise." Billy replied with a chuckle.

Kuroko landed in Mario Tennis, where he and the judge (whom looked kinda like Mario) exchanged penalties while screaming at one another.

With Kuroko gone, nothing was stopping Ken and Jin from their battle. Each of the two was throwing punches and kicks wildly and fiercely, but each and every one was either blocked or countered.

Ken knew that he had a very special trump card in this battle: He had the ability to use projectiles. Ken quickly used this to his advantage and sent a fireball at Jin. The raven-haired young man, expecting this, held up his arms and blocked the projectile like it was nothing.

As soon as Jin blocked Ken's attack, he rushed forward and lashed out his foot. The attack caught the blonde-haired man in the chest, making him stagger back.

Ken regained his composure in time to see Jin rushing him. Thinking quickly, Ken swerved to the side and allowed Jin to pass him. He then grabbed him and tossed him over the ropes. Ken dusted his hands off and started walking away confidently.

Jin, however, chose that time to grab hold of the ropes, slide back into the arena and kick Ken in the back.

Ken growled as he stood up and turned around. "You're tougher to eliminate than I hoped." He said. "Very minor setback, though. A little longer and I'll eliminate you for real."

"Remember what I said about dropping the overconfidence?" Jin asked.

"No. Not really." Ken chuckled.

Jin's fist slammed into the side of Ken's face. "Maybe THAT will help you remember." Jin said as Ken wiped blood from his mouth.

Once again, Ken growled. "You'll pay for that." He said as he charged forward.

However, Jin was ready. Ken swung his fist, but Jin leaned to the side, allowing the fist to pass him by. Jin, still leaning to the side, then thrust his own fist into Ken's stomach.

Ken backed off, clutching his stomach. Jin rushed forward and delivered an uppercut, launching Ken out of the arena.

Ken landed in the node of the Avengers, where he helped Captain America defeat Galactus.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Toppo once again jumped over the obstacle that was the exhausted form of Sodom as he swung the Master Sword at the brainwashed Seth and Vanessa. The silent juggler really didn't think it was fair to be fighting people that couldn't control their actions, but the one thing that kept Toppo attacking was that he was attacking out of self-defense.

Vanessa lashed out her fist, sending a spiral of energy (which looked remarkably similar to Heavy D!'s R.S.D.) at Toppo. The Suikoden juggler threw himself to the ground as the attack went over his head. Once the attack went by, Toppo jumped to his feet and rushed at his opponents.

Vanessa was the first to attack, lashing out both fists at different times in rapid succession. Toppo gracefully avoided the attacks, ran beside Vanessa and struck her with the Master Sword's handle. With Vanessa distracted, Toppo then advanced on Seth. The dark-skinned man lashed out his foot, which Toppo easily blocked with the Master Sword s blade.

The silent juggler tried swinging the Master Sword, but Seth dodged to the side and kicked Toppo in the face. As Toppo staggered back, Seth ran over to him and jumped on his back.

Toppo wasn't that strong to begin with, so trying to stand with a man that had about thirty pounds on him on his back was a feat in itself. Realizing that he would collapse if he didn't get Seth off of him, Toppo threw himself backwards, straight into the wall. This knocked the wind out of Seth, making him release Toppo and fall to the ground.

While Seth was on the ground, Toppo prepared to attack him, and he would have if Vanessa hadn't chosen that time to jump in. Toppo turned in time to see Vanessa lunging at him in a flying kick. The silent juggler dodged to the side and allowed Vanessa to hit the wall as well.

Toppo knew that he had to finish the fight quickly, so as Seth and Vanessa were getting up, Toppo reached out and grabbed the first thing he could find.

Seth and Vanessa looked forward, but instead of Toppo, what they saw was the body of Sodom getting thrown at them. The American samurai slammed into the two brainwashed agents, knocking them both to the ground.

Toppo stood victorious, breathing heavily. He was about to turn around and continue running when he saw all three figures on the ground getting up. Toppo once again prepared for a fight.

"Ugh…My head." Seth moaned, holding his head. "Man. What happened?"

"I think we were brainwashed, Seth." Vanessa replied. "It certainly feels that way."

Toppo sighed in relief and lowered his guard. When Sodom collided with the two agents, he had hit them in the head hard enough to break Bison's brainwashing on them.

"Uh…Hey, you're that Toppo guy from the Suikoden node, aren't you?" Seth asked once he noticed the juggler.

Toppo, being Toppo, didn't reply. He simply nodded.

"Did you just break us out of the brainwashing?" Once again, Toppo nodded. "Hey, thanks a lot." Toppo shrugged with a light smile, as if telling Seth not to mention it.

"Oh, no!"

Toppo and Seth looked at Vanessa, whom was looking worried.

"You're friends with that Shabon girl, aren't you?" Vanessa asked.

Toppo was now very interested in what the redhead woman had to say. He nodded.

"I sorta remember what was going on while I was brainwashed!" The redhead replied. "Your friend has been kidnapped!"

Toppo's eyes snapped open and silently urged Vanessa to continue.

"I don't know what she was kidnapped for or where she is now, but all I know is that Bison's stationed her somewhere in the hotel!"

The juggler's breathing intensified. Something like this had never happened before. Shabon had never been put in danger once, not even during the Fire Bringer War at Budehuc Castle.

"If that's the case, you need to find her before something happens!" Seth said.

Toppo nodded, turned around and prepared to start running.

"Wait."

Toppo turned again and saw Sodom walking over to him.

"You might need these." Sodom said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a string of grenades, the ones he had swiped from the Street Fighter locker room earlier. "I'd go with you, but Bison is targeting Lilly Kane as well and I need to find her before they kidnap her."

Toppo nodded and accepted the grenades. Sodom was then on his way, running off again to continue his search.

The silent juggler then rushed off down a different path, leaving Seth and Vanessa by themselves. Toppo swore that he would protect Shabon, and he wasn't going back on his promise now.

**(The Arena) **

Jin kicked Luigi in the stomach, sending the green-clad plumber back a couple of feet. Luigi quickly jumped to his feet, jumped at Jin and delivered a karate chop to the head. Ever since he had eliminated Ken, Jin had picked a fight with Luigi, and the two were pretty evenly matched.

Luigi landed on his feet and charged again. The green plumber leapt into the air and kicked several times. Jin was lucky enough to see the attack coming and used his hands to block each kick. As soon as Luigi stopped kicking, Jin shoved his fist into his face, knocking the thin plumber backwards again.

However, Luigi turned himself over in midair and landed on one knee, sliding for a couple more feet. Grunting, Luigi stood up and charged once again. Jin, however, remained standing, unmoving, his eyes narrowed in determination.

"Let's see if you can counter THIS!" Luigi shouted as he clenched his fist, creating sparks of electricity.

Jin smirked. "Gladly." He pulled his own fist back and engulfed it with the strange electricity from before.

Once Luigi got close enough, he swung his fist, sending a powerful surge of electricity through his hand. At the same time, however, Jin had also lashed out his own fist, overflowing with its own powerful electricity.

The fists of both fighters collided, and when they did, the sheer force and power of the combined electricity sent a bolt of lightning into the air, straight into the light fixtures hanging above the arena, instantly taking out four lights. This, in turn, sent an overload of power through the rest of the arena lights, making them shut off, dousing the arena and audience in pitch darkness. The only sources of light were coming from the Announcer's Booth and the Sound Booth.

"Hey! What happened?" Terry's voice came from somewhere in the arena.

"We must've blown a fuse or something." Ness observed.

"Let go of my arm!"

"Never! You're, like, too hot for me to ignore!"

"Will somebody PLEASE turn on a freaking light?" Wolverine shouted.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

SSBFreak quickly looked at his partner. "We'd better fix this. The tournament can't continue until the lights are back on." He explained.

Unknown1 was already on the phone. "Way ahead of you." He assured.

**(The Arena) **

Suddenly, two small sparks of light lit up from the blackened arena. The sources? Jin and Luigi, creating their respective lightning. The light wasn't much, but the electricity created enough light to show the face of the person wielding it. Both Jin and Luigi smirked at each other.

Despite that they were each using one hand to help them see, Luigi and Jin rushed each other again. Luigi leapt into the air and kicked Jin in the chest, but before he landed on the ground, Jin had spiked him into the canvas with his free hand.

As Luigi stood up, Jin backed up a couple of steps, only to feel himself bump into the ropes around the arena. Luigi, not knowing this, ran forward and delivered an uppercut to Jin's chin.

Jin didn't go up very high and didn't travel very far, but he was so close to the ropes that he tumbled over them and fell out of the arena.

As soon as Jin was eliminated, the lights came back on, save for the four lights that had been blown out earlier.

Jin landed in Zelda: Majora's Mask, where he spent the next ten minutes fighting off random enemies as the moon above grinned.

Xigbar growled and looked at Zelda, whom was still latched onto his arm. His current opponent, Sarah Bryant, simply stood aside and waited patiently for him to finish.

"I've already eliminated ONE person with you holding my arm like a deranged fangirl!" Xigbar shouted at Zelda. "Could you at LEAST let go of my arm for a bit? I've lost all feeling in it by now!"

"No way!" The princess of Hyrule replied.

Xigbar, finally fed up, pulled his arm back. "GET OFF!" He shouted as he hurled his arm forward, finally making Zelda let go of his arm, launching her across the arena. He then resumed his fight with Sarah.

When Zelda landed on the canvas, she quickly jumped to her feet. "Oh! He's, like, SO strong!" With that, she ran at Xigbar, but one fight was in her path.

Wolverine slashed his claws at Venom, but the alien Spiderman easily avoided the attack and kicked the Canadian mutant in the face. However, Venom wasn't prepared for Maxima to attack from behind, striking the anti-hero in the back.

Venom looked back and forth between the two Candians. "So, this is how it is? You resort to teaming up on us?"

"You're a dangerous creature, Brock." Wolverine pointed out. "We NEED two people to take you down."

"We'll take that as a compliment to our skills." Venom replied.

Maxima looked down at his partner. "Why does he talk like there's more than one of him?"

"Long story." Wolverine sighed. "I'll relay the message after the tournament."

"Fair enough."

Venom advanced on the two, but stopped when he heard a loud squealing noise coming from the side. The three fighters looked in time for Zelda to run onto the scene on her trek to get back to Xigbar. However, she was running in a straight line, and torpedoed into Venom, taking him with her. When Zelda ran by, Venom was gone.

Maxima scratched his head. "Okay, maybe we DIDN'T need two of us to take him out."

"Yeah. All we need is a determined fangirl." Wolverine shook his head.

"Well, I'm gonna go challenge that old boxer."

"Go ahead."

Zelda ran across the arena in record time, completely oblivious that she was pushing Venom as well. The black spider tried to get away, but Zlda was running so fast that Venom found it hard to even move.

Once she reached the other side of the arena, Zelda turned and leapt at Xigbar again. This, however, launched Venom forward, sending him flying out of the arena. Venom was too disoriented to try and fire a webline back into the arena.

Xigbar sighed in frustration when Zelda latched onto him again, this time on the back.

Venom landed in Donkey Konga, where he proved that he could keep up with even the toughest beat.

Billy swung his staff at Terry, but all he succeeded in doing was attack the air, as Terry had ducked down, allowing the staff to swing above his head. While Billy recovered from his attack, Terry jumped to his feet and punched him in the face.

As the British stick fighter staggered back, Terry shot his fist out and lunged forward. "Burn Knuckle!" He shouted.

Billy was lucky enough to snap out of his daze to see the attack coming. In the blink of an eye, Billy had his staff raised and had blocked the attack. Billy quickly countered with a kick to the stomach. This time it was Terry to stagger back.

Seeing his chance, Billy ran at his rival, stuck his staff into the ground and vaulted headfirst at Terry. On his way over, Billy swung his staff a couple of times. The first swing missed Terry, but the second one was a direct hit, smashing against the side of Terry's face.

Terry paused to rub his face, where Billy had just hit him. "You're getting better, Billy." He complimented.

"Heh. I see you've been practicing, yourself." Billy replied with a smirk.

"I always do." Terry added.

Billy suddenly realized that he was close to a turnbuckle. A smirk floated onto his face, realizing that he could pull a fast one and take Terry by surprise. Billy quickly plunged his staff into the ground and leapt into the air. Billy did a twist in the air, as his staff remained implanted in the ground. When Billy completed a full loop, he stuck his feet out and prepared to kick off the turnbuckle.

However, the turnbuckle, or what he thought was the turnbuckle, fell backwards as soon as Billy's feet made contact. When Billy realized this, he was already starting to fall over the ropes.

Thinking quickly, Billy grabbed one of the ropes and slid back into the arena from underneath them.

Billy looked around in surprise before looked at Terry. "Uh…What happened?"

"You kicked the psychic boy out of the ring." Terry replied.

"But I thought I was against one of the turnbuckles."

"You were."

"Huh?"

Ness had been sitting on one of the turnbuckles, hoping to avoid conflict and survive until Mewtwo entered. The next thing Ness knew, he had fallen into the world of Ape Escape. As chaos erupted all around him, Ness sighed and sat down.

**(SSB Locker Room) **

Mewtwo slapped himself in the forehead.

**(The Arena) **

Maxima swung his fist, catching Gabby Jay in the jaw. The old boxer, gripping his face, collapsed to the ground.

The large, Canadian cyborg bent over to pick up the old man to throw him from the arena, but Gabby suddenly sprung to life and gave Maxima a hard right hook to the face. While Maxmia was distracted, Gabby jumped to his feet and lashed out his fist, attempting a body blow.

Maxima, while unable to block the first body blow, managed to cover his stomach with his hands for the second one that followed. Maxima then thrust his foot out, kicking Gabby Jay in the stomach.

Gabby coughed a couple of times. "I HATE getting old." He said at the pain one kick had managed to deal.

Maxima used this to his advantage and grabbed the old boxer, powerbombing him into the canvas. Once Maxima got up, Gabby slowly followed, although he was struggling to do so.

"You know? As much as you say otherwise, I would say it's about time for you to retire." Maxima said.

Gabby coughed. "In your dreams, boy!"

Maxima sighed and advanced on the old man. Once he got close enough, he attempted a hard punch. Gabby was fortunate enough to block the attack, protecting his face from further harm.

While Maxima was still recovering from the punch that his opponent had blocked, Gabby took advantage of the situation and quickly rushed around the large cyborg. Once he gone around his opponent, Gabby lashed out a hard punch and struck Maxima in the back.

The surprisingly-strong attack from Gabby Jay took Maxima by surprise, making him step towards the ropes to try and regain his balance.

Seeing his chance, Gabby ran at Maxima, unaware that his boxing gloves were starting to glow, much like Little Mac's do when he powers up.

Maxima turned around, only to seeing Gabby lunging upwards in an uppercut.

The mysterious powers making Gabby's gloves glow had made his punch ten times stronger than normal, and it was more than enough to send Maxima rocketing out of the arena.

Gabby looked at his glove in awe, only to see that the glow had stopped.

Maxima landed in Sly Cooper 2, directly on top of Jean Bison. This made the heist for Sly's gang that much easier.

Chris Lightfellow swung her sword at Vega, but the Spanish matador quickly lifted his claw to block the attack. The result was a quick spark when the two metal weapons clashed.

"It really IS a pity, me having to do this." Vega said.

Chris smirked. "Go ahead. Attack me. I dare you."

"You asked for it." Vega said as he slashed several times at Chris. The silver-haired knight simply stood still, not bothering to raise her weapon.

However, he had failed to remember that Chris was wearing armour on every part of her body except her head. Vega's claws slashed against the Silver Maiden's chestplate, creating several sparks each time they struck.

Chris chuckled. "In all honestly, that wasn't very bright." She said.

"No, you're right. That WAS pretty foolish of me." Vega shook his head. "I'll have to remember things like that in the future."

"You sound like you're going to survive the section." Chis said.

"But I am, my dear." Vega replied with a bow. "After I eliminate you, I must search for someone else to fight until the next section starts up."

"Well, I'm certainly not going to allow myself to be eliminated, so you'd better not sound so confident just yet."

Vega let out a light laugh. "Unfortunately, this fight must finish if the next section should start." He said.

"For once, I agree with you." Chris said, drawing her weapon.

Vega slashed at Chris, harder than before. Chris blocked the attack with her sword, but the resulting sparks slightly blinded her, making her step back a couple of steps.

"It looks like the battle is over." Vega said as he ducked into a ball and rolled at Chris, slashing whenever he got the chance.

Chris held up her sword to block the attack, and then slightly adjusted it to block the next. Although Chris was managing to block each attack from Vega, the sparks that followed each one were making it incredibly difficult for her to see straight. Vega continued rolling, forcing Chris towards the ropes.

Suddenly, Vega broke out of the roll, flipped into the air and wrapped his legs around Chris' head. He then did flipped back to the ground, flipping Chris out of the arena.

Chris landed in Suikoden 2. She looked around and saw a younger Nash looking at her.

"Why, hello there." He greeted.

Chris punched him in the face. "No matter where I go, I just can't stay away from that guy."

**(Dome; Outside Gym) **

Balrog flew into the wall, a victim of Brad Burns' punch. Brad launched another punch, but Balrog saw this coming and ducked, making Brad's fist strike the wall instead. However, because Brad had such tough fists, it did little more than give him a little sting.

"_I need to finish this fight fast if I'm to catch up with the others."_ Brad thought as he ducked a left hook from Balrog.

Unfortunately for Brad, Balrog wasn't making this easy for him. The banned boxer was dishing out every move he knew, and even a couple he didn't, on Brad. Brad found himself fortunate that he was still standing after everything Balrog was throwing, but he was landing his own hits at the same time, so the two were pretty evenly matched by now.

"You've got skills." Balrog said. "No doubt about that."

"If you weren't fighting dirty, I would say the same about you." Brad replied.

Balrog's eyes narrowed. "You're also a smart-aleck, I see." He stepped back and pounded his fists together. "Okay, let's kick it up a notch."

With that, Balrog charged forward and pulled his fist back. Once he got close to Brad, Balrog lashed out. Brad held his hands above his face to block the blow.

However, Balrog's fist torpedoed into his stomach. In the most powerful body blow one could feel, Brad shot down the hallway for about ten feet, landing on his back. Slowly, he got to his feet and glared at Balrog. "You've just made a serious mistake, pal."

"On the contrary, I'm just getting started." Balrog said with a smirk. "Let's see if you can stop this!" Pulling his fist back, Balrog lunged forward again. "Crazy Buffalo!"

Brad smirked. "That's what I wanted to hear." He said as he stood his ground.

Balrog shoved his fist out and continued lunging forward, aiming straight at Brad's face. However, Brad leaned to the side, so Balrog's fist simply cut through the air.

Brad seized his opportunity and punched Balrog in the face while he was distracted. As Balrog recoiled, Brad followed up with two body blows and an uppercut, knocking Balrog back even further.

The black boxer quickly regained his composure and glared at Brad. "You're lucky. I've saved the most powerful attack for last."

"Is that so?" Brad asked with a smirk. "Let's see it."

"Your funeral." Balrog said as he lunged at Brad again. "Gigaton Blow!"

Brad smirked and held up his left hand.

Balrog's fist slammed into Brad's outstretched hand. The Virtua Fighter felt the force and power of his opponent's punch flow through his body. Pulling his right hand back and clenching it into a fist, Brad felt the pure strength of Balrog's attack surge through his arm and eventually into his fist.

Smirking further, Brad looked at Balrog. "That's some powerful punch you've got there." He complimented.

Brad suddenly lashed out his right fist, catching Balrog in the jaw. However, it was still flowing with the transferred power from Balrog's punch. Barog, attacked with his own strength, flew headfirst down the hallway before slamming into the wall at the end. That was more than enough to render him unconscious.

Brad sighed in relief. "Okay. Now to find the others." He said before looking around. "Crap! I can't remember which way they went!"

Deciding to take a pure guess, Brad went off in one direction, hoping it was the right one.

**(The Arena) **

Terry and Billy kept clashing. Billy swung his staff, which Terry easily blocked. Terry attempted another Burn Knuckle, but all he succeeded in doing was strike Billy with his guard up.

The two had been fighting ever since Billy had entered the arena, and even they had to admit that things were starting to get old.

However, two others had also decided that it was getting old and started approaching from different angles, preparing to attack one of the two and eliminate them.

Terry suddenly noticed Luigi sneaking up from behind Billy. At the same time, Billy saw Wolverine doing the same to Terry.

"Looks like we've got some bogeys." Terry muttered.

"Yeah. We'll break on three." Billy said.

"Got it."

"One…Two…BREAK!" Billy shouted. As soon as he said 'break', he rushed past Terry and attacked the approaching Wolverine. Terry did the same thing at the same time and attacked Luigi.

Meanwhile, Xigbar ducked as Sarah Bryant's foot soared over his head. He struggled to stand, as Zelda clutching onto his back gave him added weight that made all things harder to do.

"You know? If you're THAT much against her latching onto you, maybe you should just tell her so." Sarah shrugged.

"Don't you think I've tried that? I've tried all things short of nuclear explosives!" Xigbar replied, suddenly starting to think that wasn't such a bad idea anymore.

Sarah sighed and shook her head. "I've never seen a fangirl THIS determined before." She mused. "I think she might be even worse than Amy Rose from the Sonic node."

This time, it was Xigbar's turn to sigh. "Well, we may as well continue fighting. At least once I get eliminated, I won't have to worry about this fangirl anymore."

Sarah nodded and lashed her foot out again. Xigbar held up one of his guns, blocking the attack. Organization XIII member II then took aim and fired several laser bolts from the guns he was holding.

If Sarah were any ordinary person, she wouldn't have been able to avoid the shots, but she was a skilled gymnast and used her flexibility to avoid the shots as they soared out of the arena and struck the forcefield.

Xigbar chuckled. "You're good. The only one to avoid shots like that was that Sora kid."

"That was nothing." Sarah said. "Give me your best shot!"

Xigbar shrugged. "You asked for it, lady."

With that, Xigbar rushed at Sarah and pulled his arm back, as if preparing to attack Sarah with one of his guns. Expecting this, Sarah thrust her fist outward, attempting to attack Xigbar when he got close.

However, she didn't strike anything. As Sarah looked around, she suddenly felt herself getting picked up. She realized all too late that Xigbar had used some serious agility to move around her, then pick her up to toss her from the arena.

Zelda watched Sarah vanished and hugged Xigbar tighter. "Oooooh! You're, like, the best!"

Sarah landed in the node of the Simpsons, where Homer drove over her with his car.

"Funny place to put a speedbump." Homer mused.

Back in the arena, Juzoh swung his club, but his current opponent, Kathy, managed to avoid the blow and duck under the club. The young rancher jumped to her feet and cracked her whip, snapping Juzoh in the shoulder.

Juzoh paused to rub his shoulder, but other than that, it didn't really hurt that much. This was mainly because Kathy wasn't a fighting character in Suikoden 3 and hadn't been using a weapon that long.

While Juzoh was rubbing his shoulder, Kathy tried kicking him in the stomach, but it did little more than make him flinch. With one hand, Juzoh quickly swung his club again, striking Kathy in the side and knocking her away a few feet.

Kathy staggered to her feet and looked at Juzoh, whom was still rubbing his shoulder. "Well, it looks like I'm gonna have ta concentrate harder." She mused to herself.

Clearing her head, Kathy readied her whip again and charged at Juzoh, whom had turned to see her coming.

Juzoh swung with his club again, but Kathy lashed out with her whip, making it wrap around the giant man's weapon and preventing him from attacking her.

Kathy then leapt into the air and jumped on Juzoh's club, kicking off of it. Kathy then landed a hard kick against Juzoh's face, making him stagger to the side.

Standing straight, Juzoh laughed and rubbed his chin. "You took me by surprise there. I didn't see that one coming."

"I'm full of surprises." Kathy said with a smirk. "Y'all may have the strength, but I got the agility."

"Indeed you do." Juzoh nodded. "I look forward to seeing what you can do here."

"Heh. Well, let's git it on!" Kathy said, her slight Southern accent showing.

Juzoh was the first to act, swinging his club downwards. Kathy rolled to the side, holding onto her pink hat to keep it from falling off.

Once she completed the roll, Kathy jumped to her feet and looked up at Juzoh, only to see him swinging his club again, this time horizontally. Kathy jumped and arched over the club as it passed underneath her, and once she was in midair, she cracked her whip again, striking Juzoh in the arm.

Kathy, seeing her chance, snapped her whip again, knocking the club out of Juzoh's hand and out of the arena.

Now that he was without a weapon, there was very little Juzoh could do to prevent himself from getting pushed over the ropes and out of the arena.

Juzoh landed in Cool Spot. The bad news was that he landed in a gigantic bottle of 7-Up. The good news was that he liked it and started drinking.

Billy held up his staff as Wolverine's claws slashed against it. "Oi! You remind me of that furry freak that tried to kill me earlier."

Wolverine raised an eyebrow as he rolled out of the way to avoid getting hit. "Was this punk big and have orange and yellow fur, by any chance?" The Canadian mutant asked.

Billy nodded. "Yeah. I think his name is…Uh…Sabretooth or somethin." He said. "I never really followed comics all that much."

"Shouldn't be surprised. Ol' Sabretooth is a bloodthirsty killer." Wolverine sighed. "Look, I hope he didn't rough you up too much."

"Eh, not really." Billy shrugged. "I gave him a pounding and he took off."

"…Now that DOESN'T sound like him." Wolverine said with a pause. "Sabretooth usually doesn't run away. He fights until he wins or is knocked out."

The British stick fighter shrugged again. "Meh. Doesn't really concern me. I lived through it."

"Well, I guess we should fight, bub." Wolverine said. "Wouldn't wanna disappoint the crowd."

"You got that right!" Billy said with a smirk.

The two advanced on each other again. Wolverine slashed several times, but Billy was lucky enough to lift his staff in time and block each attack. Wolverine pressed the attack, but Billy eventually found an opening and pushed his opponent away from him. Once he was given the space, Billy leapt into the air and gripped his staff with both hands.

Wolverine looked up, but when he did, his eyes widened.

Billy's staff had multiplied at least six times, and each of those staffs had multiplied as well. Billy was now holding well more than twelve staffs in his hands, which he swung down at the canvas in one big clump.

*KA-WHAM!*

Needless to say, the power from Billy's attack sent Wolverine clear out of the arena. Billy's extra staffs turned back into one again as he landed back on the ground.

Wolverine landed in Kingdom Hearts 2. Unfortunately, he landed in the Atlantica world, which took place underwater.

Only one more elimination was needed to finish the section, and knowing that just made Terry and Luigi step things up even further. Terry's foot swung over Luigi's head as he ducked, which gave the green-clad plumber a good chance to deliver a flaming uppercut to the blonde man's chin, sending him high into the air. Luigi jumped up after him and delivered a hard downwards kick to the stomach, sending Terry straight into the canvas.

As quickly as he landed, Terry was on his feet again. Terry jumped forwards and did a front-flip with one leg outstretched, attempting to hit Luigi with his heel. Luigi saw this coming and jumped back, out of range.

However, he WASN'T out of range for the Burn Knuckle that quickly followed. Luigi flew backwards several feet before landing on his back. Looking up, he saw Terry standing over him with a triumphant smirk on his face.

Luigi's eyes narrowed as he lifted a foot and thrust it into Terry's stomach. As Terry backed off, Luigi got to his feet and charged.

Terry quickly snapped to attention to see Luigi coming. However, it was too late, as Luigi's fist made contact with his face. The lanky plumber followed up with several karate moves, finishing with a hard chop to the back of Terry's neck.

Struggling to stay conscious after that last hit, Terry got to his feet and glared at Luigi. "Are you okay?"

Luigi raised an eyebrow. "What the heck kinda-"

"BUSTAH WOLF!"

The crowd roared in excitement as Terry's fist connected with Luigi's face. Terry then shot his fists out, creating a small explosion. This sent Luigi clear out of the arena, too dazed to try and Green Missile himself back in.

Luigi landed in Crash Bandicoot. Crash, thinking him to be an enemy, spun at him.

Back in the arena, Terry adjusted his cap and sighed in relief. He turned around to see who else had survived and found everyone resting. Gabby Jay, having lasted more sections than anyone left (as hard as it may be to believe), was starting to breathe heavily and had a black eye and several bruises. Xigbar was as relaxed as one could be with a fangirlish princess (Zelda) latched onto his like a magnet. Kathy jumped in place a couple of times, getting ready for the next wave of fighters. Billy and Vega looked as if they had just entered, although the former had a bruise on the side of his face.

Everyone glanced at the entrance curtain, knowing that the next wave of fighters were about to enter.

**RESULTS**

TERRY BOGARD (KOF)

XIGBAR (KH2)

BILLY KANE (FF)

ZELDA (SSB)

VEGA (SFA3)

KATHY (S3)

GABBY JAY (SPO!)

**(ELIMINATED)**

LUIGI MARIO (SSB)

JIN KAZAMA (T5)

NESS (SSB)

VENOM (MC)

KEN MASTERS (SFA3)

JUZOH KANZAKI (LB)

WOLVERINE (MC)

CHRIS LIGHTFELLOW (S3)

MAXIMA (KOF)

SARAH BRYANT (VF)

KUROKO (SS)

RYOFU (WH)

JOKER (KE)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Master Defense" **

TOPPO {with the Master Sword} (S3) _**liberates**_ SETH and VANESSA (KOF)

"**Boxer Blowout" **

BRAD BURNS (VF) _**bashes**_ BALROG (SFA3)

Eliminations: Terry, Xigbar and Billy, 2; Zelda, Vega, Kathy, Gabby Jay, Luigi, Jin and Ness, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: R. Mika (8), King (7), Bruce Irvin (6), Peach Toadstool (5), Lucky Glauber (5), Chang Koehan (5), Heavy D! (5)


	32. Section Fifteen

**(The Arena) **

The seven fighters in the arena waited patiently for the next wave to come out. Billy tossed his staff to himself a couple of times and Kathy was whistling a cheerful tune, but other than that, the fighters were quiet. When they heard people cheering, everyone looked at the entrance curtain to see whom was entering.

"**RALF JONES! (KOF) **

The Ikari Warrior laughed and cracked his knuckles. "Finally, another one of us enters the arena. Let's see if I can match Clark's score." He mused as he ran down the ramp leading to the arena.

Once he hit the arena, Ralf quickly went over to challenge Xigbar. "I'm looking for a fight, man."

"Well, I suppose I can fight you, but keep in mind that there's a RABID FANGIRL ON MY BACK!" Xigbar said, directing the last words towards the Hylian princess latching onto him.

"Sooooooo?" Zelda asked.

Ralf chuckled. "Well, let's see if she slows you down any."

"**SHINNOSUKE KAGAMI!" (LB) **

Coming out to a loud fangirl cheer, Kagami strode down to the arena, his sword at his side and his white coat blowing in the breeze as he walked. Kagami reached the end of the ramp and gracefully jumped into the arena.

Once he landed, Kagami looked around. "Let's see. My node could use an easy elimination, but whom should I go for?"

His eyes finally landed on Gabby Jay, whom was still trying to catch his breath. Kagami smirked evilly and rushed over.

Gabby looked ahead and jumped in surprise when he saw Kagami running at him. He instinctively lashed out his hand, striking the oncoming man in the face.

Kagami staggered back. _"Maybe this'll be harder than I thought it would."_

"**ACE!" (S3) **

The self-proclaimed 'ladies man' of Geddoe's team came out, twirling a Sai in his hand. Ace scanned the arena for any ladies, but came up short. Kathy was too young for him and Ace was smart enough to know that Zelda was Link's girlfriend.

Ace contemplated his chances as he jumped into the arena. Thus far, Geddoe was the only one in the group to have much success. Queen and Joker both got tossed fairly easily.

Without looking, Ace raised his arm to the side, clutching one of his Sai. Vega's claws slashed against them. Ace looked at the masked matador with a smirk.

"_Maybe my chances aren't so bad after all."_ Ace thought as he rushed Vega.

"**SHURA!" (WH) **

The young Thai fighter came out (to a series of boos) and rushed down to the arena, prepared for anything. Heck, if J. Maxx and Ryoko could score an elimination, maybe there was a chance Shura could, too.

Shura saw Billy and rushed over to him. However, the British stick-fighter saw him coming, pulled his staff into the air and smashed it over Shura's head.

Shura was suddenly feeling a little less confident.

**(Hotel; Lobby) **

"What's taking Vivian so long?" Mika asked.

"She has to go everywhere." Chonrei pointed out. "It could take her a bit."

The team, still waiting for Vivian to get back from her scouting, was starting to get restless. Guile and J. Maxx were the most anxious to get moving, as their children were at stake and they didn't want to fail them. Although the woman behind the desk found it unusual that there was such a large group of fighters waiting in the lobby (and why a fight would break out there), she didn't say anything.

"We're definitely losing time, though." Clark sighed. "We need to find out where the kids are before Bison does whatever he's going to do."

"You are right, citizen! And 'The Koehan' shall obliterate all evil here should anything happen to those poor children!" Chang said.

"Twelve…" Heavy D! muttered, still keeping track at how many times Chang said something heroic.

Suddenly, everyone heard footsteps again. Looking at the doorway, everyone saw a very furious Yuber coming onto the scene, muttering things about some guy named 'Pesmerga'.

"Yuber." Samus said, narrowing his eyes. "He's in on this."

"Should we try interrogating him?" Guile asked.

"Might be a wise choice."

"Zen let ME handle zis." Nightcrawler said, stepping up.

"You sure?" Samus asked.

"I haff not been doing very much as of yet." The blue-skinned mutant shrugged. "I vant to at least contribute something to zis."

Samus stood in silence before nodding. "Okay. Good luck."

Nightcrawler vanished in a cloud of purple smoke, appearing directly in front of Yuber, making the black-clad madman stop.

"Move, fool." Yuber threatened.

"I am sorry, but I am afraid zat I cannot do zat." Nightcrawler said, getting into a stance. "Vat do you know about zis plot?"

Yuber smirked as one of his blades shot from within his sleeve and landed in his hand. "Ah, good. Something to take my anger out on."

**(The Arena) **

"**CHUN-LI!" (SFA3) **

Street Fighter's leading lady came out to a loud cheer. The blue-clad police woman rushed down to the ring, confident that she could do fairly well.

When she hit the arena, Ace pushed Vega away and walked over. "Hey, there! Wanna go out Saturday night?"

Chun-Li kicked him in the head. "I don't know who's got lamer pickup lines. This guy or Jon Arbuckle."

"**JOE HIGASHI!" (KOF) **

Joe came out in his usual fighting attire: A pair of shorts. He played to the crow as he ran down to the arena. To say that Joe felt great would be an understatement. Joe felt like nothing could spoil how good he felt.

"HIGASHIIIII!" Billy screamed kicking Shura away and running over with his staff raised.

Joe's eyes bulged. Being the boyfriend of Lily Kane meant that he had to deal with her overprotective brother, whom happened to hate his guts. Joe turned tail and ran.

**(The Crowd) **

Lilly Kane sighed. She knew this would happen. The instant Billy and Joe would be in the ring together, the former would be after the latter's head. Lilly just had to hope for the best and continued to watch the show.

Unknown to her, Lilly was being watched.

**(The Arena) **

"**MEWTWO!" (SSB) **

Mewtwo sighed as he floated down to the arena. Ness had been eliminated, and that meant that he had taken all of the knowledge he had with him. All the psychic Pokemon could do now was wait for a villain to enter and get the info from them.

Reaching the end of the ramp, Mewtwo lifted himself off the ground and floated into the arena gracefully, arms folded the whole time. His first instinct was to help Zelda, but from the looks of things, she had everything under control (if you call acting like a crazed fangirl for a one-eyed gunner with a black cloak under control).

Mewtwo decided to go help Gabby Jay with Kagami, as the old boxer looked like he was starting to lose the fight.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**FIFTEEN**!"

"**BLAZEMAN!" (The Fallout Shelter) **

Blazeman jumped into the arena and looked around. Two of the biggest names in fighting games, Chun-Li and Terry Bogard, were in the arena with him, and that meant that he could have the chance to fight with some of them and hopefully do well.

The TFS resident stepped to the side as Joe and Billy flew past him, then drew his sword as he walked over to Terry, hoping for a challenge.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"Tell me WHY you invited one of the TFS'ers to fight, again." Unknown1 said.

SSBFreak smirked. "Experimenting for next year."

"**WOLF HAWKFIELD!" (VF) **

The American wrestler of the Virtua Fighter node stood outside the entrance curtain, let out his trademark howl and ran down to the arena.

In all honesty, Wolf was surprised at how well his node was doing thus far. Kage and Goh had done the best out of all of them so far, and only a few of them were left to enter, so Wolf could only hope that he could improve on what Kage and Goh had done.

Once he hit the arena, he quickly saw Vega without an opponent now that Chun-Li was beating Ace into the canvas. Wolf went over to Vega, grabbed him and piledrived him into the ground.

Vega jumped to his feet. "If you hurt my face from that, you'll pay with your life." He said icily.

Wolf chuckled. "Bring it, prettyboy!"

**(Hotel; Bison's Room) **

Bison growled and paced back and forth. "Where's Gannondorf?" He muttered. "He was eliminated two sections ago, so he should be back by now."

"What's so important about that guy, anyway?" King Lion asked. A few others agreed with him.

"Because whether you like it or not, he is one of the strongest people helping us." Bison replied. "And the fact that he's not here by now makes me wonder if he ran into any of the force that's trying to stop us."

Suddenly, as if on cue, Bison's phone on the table started ringing. Bison quickly picked it up and answered it. "Yes?" He asked. He instantly recognized the voice on the other end. "Gannondorf, where ARE you? You know that you're supposed to meet back here, so where ARE you?"

The other villains watched as Bison continued. "What? What do you mean you don't want to help anymore? What could be more important?"

**(Hotel, Gannondorf's Room) **

"Oh, I'm sure you can handle things just fine without me. Goodbye, Bison." Gannondorf said as he hung up the phone.

As soon as he hung up the phone, Gannondorf picked up another piece of paper and started folding it. As he did, he looked around the room at all of the origami animals and objects scattered around the room.

A genuine smile floated across the Gerudo king's face. Maybe he had finally found his callng…

**(Hotel; Bison's Room) **

Bison growled again as he hung up the phone. "Looks like we're going to have to continue without his help."

"Shouldn't matter." Setsuna muttered. "He's a fool, anyway."

"Well, without Gannondorf's strength, we'll need to try even harder to fight off this force." Bison said. "All of you, take your positions, because I have a feeling that we'll be encountering some of these people very soon."

The others nodded and left the room. Unknown to anyone, a small, circular, black shadow on the floor slid out of the room as well.

**(The Arena) **

"**RICO!" (S3) **

Rico gulped nervously as she gripped her hammer. She and Kathy were the last females from the Suikoden node remaining, and unlike the latter, Rico wasn't liking her chances. If her master, Fred Maxmillion, could be eliminated so easily, what's to stop his squire from the same fate?

Clearing her head and trying to remain as calm as she could, Rico walked down to the arena and climbed in.

Rico quickly rushed over to Kathy to help her. Swinging her hammer, Rico knocked Shura away.

Kathy smiled. "Heya, Rico! How're y'all feelin?" The rancher greeted cheerfully.

"A little nervous." Rico said.

"Ah, don't worry." Kathy laughed. "Look, let's stick together. I'm sure that we can wear someone down."

Rico managed a weak smile and nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Kathy."

"**GUNTER!" (GF) **

Gunter, a giant, lizard-like creature, came out from behind the curtain to a mixed reaction (much like for most of the Galaxy Fight crew). Much like Rico, Gunter wasn't liking his chances, but he was doing a better job at hiding his nervousness.

Still, Musafar and G. Done had managed to get eliminations, so maybe the lizard-man would get lucky.

Shura saw Gunter come in and rushed over, seeing him to be an easy elimination.

One second later and Shura was sent flying across the arena. Gunter smirked.

"**ROGUE!" (MC) **

The young mutant came out from behind the curtain and flew down the ramp as the crowd cheered her on.

Rogue sighed as she jumped into the arena. Remy was gone, Logan was gone. Rogue was really hoping to do some double-teaming, but because Wolverine had just been eliminated, she couldn't. Gambit had been eliminated long ago, taking out those chances as well.

Seeing Xigbar fighting Ralf (with Zelda still on his back, by the way), Rogue rushed over and took a glove off.

Xigbar turned just in time for Rogue to place her uncovered hand on his face, draining his energy. The Organization member collapsed to one knee after a couple of seconds as Rogue stood over him, her brown hair turning black (and the white streak in her hair turning gray).

"Let's see, here." Rogue said as she held out her hand. Sure enough, a gun materialized.

Rogue smirked and rushed off to cause mischief.

"And now, the final fighter of this section…"

"**YOSHIMITSU!" (T5) **

The odd sword-wielder came out from behind the curtain and started twirling his sword, lifting himself off the ground. Yoshimitsu hovered into the arena the rest of the way, landing on his feet.

"It's a pity I didn't get an earlier draw." Yoshimitsu chuckled. "I might have had the pleasure of eliminating that scum, Bryan Fury."

Still, Bryan was long gone, so Yoshimitsu had to look for a fight elsewhere. He went over to Kathy and Rico, although he had to pause to let Joe and Billy run by, the latter still chasing the former.

"Excuse me?" Yoshimitsu asked, getting the attention of both teenagers. "I'm looking for a fight."

Kathy smirked. "Well, y'all got one, now!"

Yoshimitsu smirked behind his mask. "Very good. Let's see what you've got."


	33. Section Fifteen Results

**(The Arena) **

"GET OUTTA THE WAY IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE!" Joe screamed as he bowled over Gabby Jay and Kagami with Billy Kane hot on his heels, screaming murder and swinging his staff like a maniac.

It seemed like daily routine now for both the fighters. Every time Joe would go on a date with Lilly, Billy would jump in and either carry his sister off or attempt to beat Joe into the ground. This was mainly because Billy didn't like Joe because he thought Lilly deserved better.

Still, Billy had yet to realize that Joe was the only one Lilly would date, and the two of them were genuinely in love. Unfortunately, Billy just wouldn't come to realize this because Lilly was the only family he had left and was really over-protective of her.

Meanwhile, the latest Mystery Fighter, Blazeman, was currently in a fight with Terry Bogard. The Fatal Fury star stepped back as Blazeman swung his sword, narrowly missing him.

Terry chuckled and adjusted his cap. "You're not bad."

"Hey, SSBFreak invited me to participate, so I intend to make the most of it and give it my all." Blazeman said with a smirk.

Terry clenched his fist and lunged forward in another Burn Knuckle.

Anticipating this, Blazeman held out his hand and concentrated. Suddenly, a swirling pillar of fire appeared around him and Terry flew straight into it. The pillar only went a little higher than Blazeman's head, but the damage was done. Terry flew into the air and landed on his back.

Terry slowly got to his feet and looked at his opponent. Blazeman simply stood in his stance, sword in hand. Terry chuckled again. "I guess that's the advantage of coming from a place none of us are familiar with. I wasn't expecting that."

Blazeman nodded. "I appreciate that."

"Well, I must admit that I'll have fun taking you down."

Blazeman smirked. "You sound like you're actually going to defeat me."

"WILL YOU LET GO OF MY FREAKING ARM?" Everyone heard Xigbar scream.

Zelda had once again latched onto Xigbar's arm, and was the only one in the arena not fighting. Xigbar, now extremely furious, was shaking his arm wildly, lifting Zelda off her feet and waving her around at the same time.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

SSBFreak rubbed his chin in thought. "Blazeman's going for Terry first." He mused. "I wonder if that's a good thing."

"What do you mean?" Unknown1 asked.

"If I were Blazeman, I probably would have gone for an easier elimination first." SSBFreak explained. "Terry's one of the most powerful characters in the arena."

"One of the most?"

"Along with Mewtwo, Chun-Li, Kagami and Gabby Jay."

"…..Gabby Jay?"

"Hey, after how much he's surprised everyone here, I'd say anything's possible."

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Ryofu casually walked out into the Eliminated Seating, found a spot and sat down.

Janne saw this and raised an eyebrow. "You're seeming awfully cheerful for someone that got eliminated within ten minutes."

The large man nodded. "I knew I probably wouldn't last very long. The better man won."

"The guy in the black cloak that's frantically waving his arm around, trying to get that Hylian princess off of him?"

"That's him." Ryofu nodded. "I admire his strength and skill, since he was able to eliminate me with only one hand."

"So what do you intend to do?"

"What I believe is the custom for congratulations in this time: Buy him a couple of drinks after the tournament finishes."

The Frenchwoman sighed. "Just be careful not to overdo it with the drinks. Remember that LAST tournament like this we were all invited to?"

Ryofu looked at the ground. "Was it THAT bad?"

"Are you KIDDING me? You and that Kung Lao guy from the Mortal Kombat node were singing Irish songs, completely out of tune and sync I might add, for three hours!"

Meanwhile, Jin had just shown up as well. He started making his way down to an empty seat (preferably one far away from his father, Kazuya) when Xiaoyu jumped in from the side and tackled him to the ground in a death hug.

"Oh, Jin!" Xiaoyu said happily. "I missed you so much!"

"W-What are you talking about, Xiao?" Jin asked, trying to push Xiaoyu off of him. "We were together in the locker room before the tournament started!"

"But that was SO long ago and I was getting really lonely!" Xiaoyu insisted.

Kazuya watched the scene from afar and his gaze softened. Seeing Jin and Xiaoyu reminded him of Jun Kazama, his late wife, and how much they were in love. A lone tear rolled down his face.

"_No, you fool!"_ The devil gene in Kazuya screamed. _"Sentiments like this will keep you from your goals!"_

"_Just shut up!"_ Kazuya screamed back. _"Seeing Jin like that reminds me of Jun! You KNOW how much she meant to me!"_

"_You sicken me."_ Devil snorted. _"After all these years, you still don't want to completely grasp the gene because you refuse to let go of these worthless feelings."_

"_Jun is the one thing you will never make me let go."_ Kazuya replied. _"I loved her too much to simply forget about her."_

Devil, seeing that he wasn't going to get though to Kazuya, reluctantly quieted down as Kazuya went back to watching the arena.

**(The Arena) **

Gunter ducked as Rogue fired another laser bolt from her newly-acquired gun. Her hair was still black and gray, meaning that Xigbar's unique ability was still in her grasp.

Needless to say, Rogue was having a field day. She had managed to shoot the majority of the people in the arena (Yoshimitsu, Vega and Mewtwo were the lucky ones) and she STILL hadn't run out of ammo.

Rogue took aim again and fired, sending a laser bolt straight into the back of Gunter. The huge lizard roared in pain as he collapsed to one knee.

The female mutant smirked and floated forward to eliminated Gunter when she felt a laser bolt slam into her back. Looking over her shoulder, Rogue saw Xigbar, aiming his free hand (and gun) at her.

"Look, lady. Do yourself a favour and stop copying my style!" Xigbar threatened before resuming his fight with Ralf.

Rogue stood in silence before shrugging. Suddenly, she couldn't feel the gun in her hand anymore. She quickly noticed that her hair was back to its normal colour, meaning that her newfound powers were gone. She turned to look at Gunter and saw that he had now gone off to pick a fight with Wolf Hawkfield.

In the meantime, Zelda had seen Rogue and her eyes narrowed for the first time since she entered the arena. She quietly let go of Xigbar's arm (slightly surprising the Organization member) and strode over.

Ace held up both of his Sai and blocked Vega's claw as the masked matador tried a vertical slash. The Spanish man lashed out again, but all he succeeded in doing was make a few tears in Ace's patchwork leather jacket due to the womanizing mercenary dodging the blow.

"I hope you realize that you've just made me really angry." Ace said simply.

"How so?" Vega asked, smirking from behind his mask.

"You ripped my jacket." Ace replied, in a strangely calm tone. "Do you have any idea whatsoever as to how hard it is to come across this kind of leather in my node?"

"Not really, but then again, I don't care." Vega said, still in his stance.

Ace lashed out his fist, striking Vega's mask with full force. Then, much to everyone's surprise, Vega's mask split in half, falling away from the vain man's face.

"Now we're even." Ace said with a smirk.

Vega didn't answer. He simply looked back and forth between the two pieces of his mask in horror, seeing that he no longer had any protection for his face. He slowly looked at Ace again, his glare turning into one of pure anger.

Ace, not expecting this, stepped back and raised his guard, preparing for the worst Vega had to offer.

"YOU DIE!" Vega screamed as he lunged at Ace and slashed wildly.

It took a fair amount of effort, but Ace managed to either block or avoid most of Vega's attacks. While parrying a slash, Ace found and opening and kicked Vega in the stomach, making the Spanish man stagger back.

"I'd better get him out of here before he hurts somebody." Ace mused as he rushed at Vega.

Vega snapped to attention and prepared to take Ace's head off, but it was already too late. Ace had booted Vega out of the arena, making the first elimination of the section.

Vega landed in Fatal Fury 2, where he took out his aggressions on Laurence Blood.

Gunter swung his club, smashing it over Wolf's head. The red-haired Virtua Fighter then proceeded to grab the giant lizard and piledrive him into the ground, earning a loud cheer from the crowd.

Wold watched as Gunter slowly got to his feet. "You know? You guys really need to consider retiring from the fighting scene." He said. "A lot of you guys got tossed pretty easily."

"Maybe so, but we've gotten two eliminations so far." Gunter replied. "Maybe you should consider saying that to one of those guys from the Kizuna Encounter node.

Wolf shrugged. "Yeah. You got me there."

"And I hope you realize that I'm not going to let up." Gunter added, getting into his stance again.

"I'm aware of that." Wolf said with a smirk. "And be sure that you don't."

The two advanced on each other again. Wolf was the first to act, swinging his fist. Gunter, however, was quick enough to avoid the blow and strike the American wrestler with his club again.

Wolf stepped back, holding his arm, but quickly recovered. He jumped at Gunter and planted both feet against the giant lizard's chest. As Gunter stepped back, Wolf ran up from behind and grabbed him.

The American wrestler smirked. Coming up from behind and grappling the opponent meant that he or she would have a heck of a hard time trying to break free of his iron grip. It worked all the time when Wolf did it to his nodal companions in the Virtua Fighter tournaments.

However, unlike Wolf's nodal companions, Gunter carried a weapon, which he promptly reminded Wolf of by bringing it up and smashing it into Wolf's forehead. This made Wolf let go of the lizard-man and hold onto his head.

Gunter, seeing his chance, rushed at Wolf.

However, unlike Vega before him, Wolf snapped out of his daze in time. He grabbed the oncoming Gunter and with one mighty swing, threw the lizard over his shoulder and out of the arena.

Gunter landed in, of all places, the node of Dave the Barbarian. Dave looked at him, blinked three times, screamed like a little girl and ran for the hills.

Chun-Li thrust her foot out, kicking Yoshimitsu in the chest. The robotic fighter flew into a turnbuckle, but quickly got to his feet again and prepared his sword for Chun-Li's next attack.

The policewoman lunged at Yoshimitsu again and kicked at him again. This time, Yoshimitsu was prepared and raised his sword. Chun-Li's foot connected with the blade of steel, so it did nothing to hurt her opponent.

With Chun-Li's foot still striking his sword, Yoshimitsu pushed forward, forcing Chun-Li away from him. "You're quite fast on your feet." Yoshimitsu said. "I think Eddy and Christie would even have a hard time trying to keep up with your kicks."

"Thanks. You're not bad yourself." Chun-Li added. "I haven't fought a real swordsman since Sodom, and he simply used a pair of Sai to fight with."

"Perhaps I should seek out this gentleman after the tournament." Yoshimitsu pondered as he swung his katana at Chun-Li. "The way you put it, he sounds talented."

"Meh. I guess." Chun-Li shrugged. "But what he has in strength he loses in brains. He's not exactly the brightest of us Street Fighters."

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Sodom let out a loud sneeze while running and fell to the ground. Vivian's shadow, coming from the opposite direction he was, silently went around him.

**(The Arena) **

Chun-Li and Yoshimitsu continued to circle each other, staring into each other's eyes, as if waiting for the other to make the next move.

Suddenly, Yoshimitsu stopped walking, sat down and started spinning in place. After a couple of seconds, Yoshimitsu vanished completely.

Chun-Li stepped back in shock. "Huh? Where'd he go!"

"Namunamu!" Yoshimitsu's voice rang out above the policewoman. Chun-Li looked up in time to see Yoshimitsu materialize and fall towards her, swinging his sword.

Thinking quickly, Chun-Li rolled to safety and jumped to her feet. As Yoshimitsu landed, Chun-Li gathered up a large amount of energy in her hands.

Yoshimitsu turned as Chun-Li threw herself at him, her hands surging with an unknown power.

Chun-Li lashed out her hands, creating a huge sphere of blue energy. Poor Yoshimitsu was unfortunate enough to be caught right in the middle of it, so he was pounded with energy with each passing second.

By the time Chun-Li had finished the attack, Yoshimitsu was worn out. The robotic warrior collapsed, making it easy for Chun-Li to pick up and dump over the ropes.

Yoshimitsu landed in Ape Escape 3, where he and Yellow Monkey got into a fight about ninjas (how the severely-overweight primate knew anything about the ways of the ninja, Yoshimitsu didn't know).

Rogue was still searching for someone to take abilities from when a ball of burning energy slammed into her back and knocked her to the ground. Rogue quickly stood up and turned around. "What's your-"

That was all Rogue could get out before Zelda's high-heeled shoe connected with her forehead, knocking the mutant to the ground again, this time to her back.

"What's the deal with you?" Rogue asked.

"You DARE copy his moves?" Zelda shouted, pressing her foot down on Rogue's stomach. "I, like, have half a mind to take you down!…No, scratch that. That's, like, totally what I'm going to do."

Rogue quickly pushed Zelda off of her and jumped to her feet. "So that's how ya wanna play, huh?" She asked, cracking her knuckles. "Well, bring it on, sugah!"

Zelda did. She rushed at Rogue and backhanded her across the face. Normally, a slap like that wouldn't have hurt, but Zelda's hand had been surrounded by a strange, sparkling energy and had intensified the slap.

Rogue, rubbing her chin, stepped back. "Oh, you shouldn't have done that, lady."

With that, Rogue flew at Zelda, soaring mere inches off the ground. Zelda quickly spun in place for a couple of seconds just before Rogue made contact with her.

Zelda vanished from sight just as Rogue flew past where she had just been. "Why am I reminded of Nightcrawler now?" She asked as she skidded to a halt and looked around. "Where are ya?"

"Over here!"

Rogue looked in time to see Zelda spring from a turnbuckle and kick her in the chest with both feet. Rogue staggered back, but held her ground and swung her fists a few times at the Hylian princess. Zelda was lucky enough to dodge the first blow, but then received two hard hooks to the face.

Without thinking of the consequences, Zelda grabbed Rogue and concentrated, creating another orb of fire-like energy (Din's Fire) in her hand.

Two seconds later, a loud explosion rocked the entire arena. Everyone quickly stopped fighting to see what had happened and saw Zelda standing over the charred, motionless body of Rogue.

Zelda gave a quick and nervous chuckle before disposing of the evidence, dropping Rogue outside of the arena. She then skipped back over to Xigbar as if nothing had happened.

Rogue landed in Tony Hawk: Underground, right in the middle of a skate park with a competition going on. All six boarders tripped over Rogue's body in perfect succession, creating a pileup in the middle of the skate park.

**(Hotel; Lobby) **

Yuber swung at his opponent again, but all he did was slice through a cloud of purple smoke. Nighrcrawler appeared above the black knight and kicked him in the head before landed gracefully on his feet.

As the blue-skinned mutant fought the homicidal maniac, the rest of the team stood aside to cheer Nightcrawler on (although Reed was now holding an ice bag up to his head, still recovering from his recent loss at the hands of Ryuji Yamazaki).

"Stay still, you freak!" Yuber shouted as he wildly swung his second sword at Nightcrawler, but the German mutant again showed his swift nature by leapng into the air and over Yuber's sword, kicking the black knight in the face on the way back to the ground.

Yuber stepped back and growled. Things hadn't really been going his way the entire day. First he lost to three members of the security force, then his sworn enemy (and the only living being Yuber was afraid of) chased him into the arena in an attempt to kill him, and now this simple mutant was starting to get the better of him.

Nightcrawler jumped into the air and vanished again. Yuber frantically scanned the lobby for any signs of the blue-skinned mutant appeared again, but didn't think of looking above him, which was exactly where Nightcrawler had appeared. Nightcrawler landed directly on top of Yuber's head, knocking the black knight down and pinning him there.

It took Yuber a couple of seconds, but he leapt into the air and force Nightcrawler off him. Yuber quickly spun around and swung his sword, this time managing to get lucky, as his sword clipped Nightcrawler's shoulder.

As the German mutant staggered back, holding his shoulder. Yuber, seeing his chance, stepped forward and swung again. Nightcrawler, while still in pain, was able to see the attack coming and dodged to the side, then punched Yuber in the face with his good hand.

"Why do you fight me?" Yuber asked, sounding much more calm. "You're no match for the likes of me."

"Zat doesn't mean I shall back avay from zee challenge!" Nightcrawler shot back, still holding onto his shoulder. "People like you, zhey make me sick!"

Yuber smirked. "Such a sharp tongue. I wonder how sharp it would be against my blade."

With that, Yuber lashed out again. Nightcrawler quickly vanished again, but Yuber had managed to slash his leg before he did. Still, Nightcrawler completed the teleportation, and appeared right behind the black knight, whom was looking up, half-expecting the German to appear above him again.

Yuber saw Nightcrawler from the corner of his eye and quickly reacted, taking another swing. Much to the dismay of the rest of the team, Yuber got lucky, making a deep slash into Nightcrawler's chest, sending a fair amount of blood everywhere.

The German mutant screamed in pain as he collapsed to the ground, defeated. Yuber stood over him and smirked. "It's about time something happened my way." He said as he turned and walked off, leaving his bleeding opponent on the ground.

Once Yuber had gone, several members of the 'good' team rushed over to aid the fallen mutant. Guile quickly looked at the woman behind the check-in counter. "Don't just stand there, lady! Call the recovery room!" The woman nodded and picked up the phone.

"There's no way he'll be able to continue fighting Bison's forces like this." Falco sighed. "We'll probably have to go the rest of the way without him once that Shadow girl returns."

"That 'Shadow girl' has a name, you know." Chonrei muttered at the avian.

**(The Arena) **

Kagami swung his sword at his two opponents, but it struck neither one. Gabby Jay was fortunate enough to duck under the blade and Mewtwo had teleported to safety. Gabby Jay quickly punched Kagami with a right hook, but it did little more than make the brown-haired man tilt his head to the side a bit.

Mewtwo, in the meantime, had appeared not too far away and started charging up a Shadow Ball in his hands. Once it had gotten large enough the psychic Pokemon lashed his hand out, shooting the ball of dark energy at Kagami, knocking him to the ground. Mewtwo advanced.

Kagami slowly got to his feet and looked over his shoulder. "You know what? I'd say that you're a far better challenge." He told Mewtwo before grabbing Gabby Jay and throwing him across the arena.

Mewtwo's eyes narrowed. "Very well."

The two rushed each other. Kagami swung his sword at Mewtwo, but the psychic Pokemon was quicker, teleporting around Kagami and smacking him with his tail. Kagami quickly swung his sword backwards, surging it with flames at the same time.

The sword strike didn't attack Mewtwo, but the flames that leapt off the blade did. Mewtwo collapsed, slightly burned but otherwise alright. Mewtwo slowly got to his feet and glared daggers at Kagami, whom simply stood straight and beckoned Mewtwo to come forward.

Mewtwo floated forward, but not before clenching his fist and igniting it in dark purple fire. Kagami saw this and lit his own hand up in flames.

Once the two were close enough, they each swung their hands, although Mewtwo jumped into the air before he did so. Kagami's flame barely touched Mewtwo, but it did burn him slightly. Mewtwo's dreaded midair claw swipe, however, was a direct hit. Kagami was shocked to find himself flying at least twenty feet into the air.

"To those who are confused," SSBFreak said through the speakers. "Mewtwo's midair swipe is known to be one of the most powerful non-smash attacks in Melee. If the damage was high enough, this simple attack was usually more than enough to grant a KO."

"Kagami had better step it up." Unknown1 added. "The way things are going, I don't think he'll be able to keep up."

Kagami heard that and growled before stepping up his attack rate. He swung at Mewtwo several times, hoping that he would attack his opponent at least once.

Mewtwo was able to block or avoid most of the sword strikes, but he received a couple of small wounds from the attack. Seeing an opening, Mewtwo reached out and grabbed Kagami, then spun him around over his shoulder (much like Ness' throws) and threw him out of the arena.

Kagami landed in Super Mario Kart. Donkey Kong Jr. drove over him.

Joe ducked as Billy's staff again swung over his head, but didn't stop his running. He knew from experience that he wouldn't be able to fight an enraged Billy (believe me, he tried) and the only courses of action would be either to run or to talk him out of attacking. And since Billy hated his guts, running was really his only option.

"Stay still and let me kill you, Higshi!" Billy screamed.

"What kind of fool do you take me for?" Joe asked.

"A bigger one than you look!" Billy shouted back.

Fighters were diving out of the way to avoid getting trampled by the two. Neither Billy nor Joe were paying attention to where they were going, because much like Yuber & Pesmerga's little show earlier, the only thing on Joe's mind was escaping Billy's wrath, and the only thing on Billy's was pounding the half-naked Thai fighter into the ground.

**(The Crowd) **

Lilly held her head in her hands. She really hated it when Billy got like this. She truly loved Joe, and she knew he returns the feelings, but Billy would much rather die than have someone like Joe for a brother-in-law.

The poor girl had always been trying to get Billy to realize that Joe wasn't all that bad, but nothing had ever worked.

Sighing in frustration, Lilly stood up and left her seat. She thought that maybe grabbing a snack from the restaurant would calm her.

**(The Arena) **

Joe was still fleeing in terror from Billy's wrath when he looked up at the stands. His eyes widened as he suddenly stopped running.

Now, Joe had never stopped running during one of the chases he and Billy had in the past, so Joe stopping was really the last thing Billy was expecting. Billy collided with Joe, knocking both men to the ground.

Billy stood up and looked at Joe as the Thai fighter stood up as well. "What the heck did ya stop for?"

"Look."

Billy looked at the stands and saw Lilly leave through one of the doors at the back of the bleachers. However, he saw three shady-looking guys walk out after her the instant she left.

Both men's eyes widened in realization. "Lilly!" They both shouted at the same time.

A light suddenly went on inside Joe's head. "Billy, eliminate me! I'll go save her!"

"What? You should eliminate ME!" Billy retaliated. "She's MY sister!"

"Look, who's been in the arena longer?" Joe asked.

"Me, but-"

"Exactly! You can wait for another villain to enter and get answers from him!"

Billy was silent. "Do you really care for Lilly?"

"Yes! More than anything!" Joe insisted.

"Okay. I must be going crazy, but I'll trust you to save her." Billy said.

Joe smiled. This was his big chance to prove to Billy that he and Lilly loved each other.

"But you'd BETTER save her." Billy whispered coldly. "You don't wanna know what's going to happen to you if you fail."

Joe gulped, but nodded. Billy pushed him over the ropes and out of the arena.

Joe landed in U.S. Acres, right outside of a barn.

"Hi, there!" Orson the pig greeted. "So what brings you here?"

"A tournament." Joe said simply.

"A tournament?" Wade, a white duck with an inner tube around his waist, cried. He then started running around in circles, screaming his head off.

"What's with the duck?" Joe asked.

"A DUCK?" Wade screamed, jumping onto Joe's face. "WHERE?"

The duo of Rico and Kathy were still doing a double-team, although they were now fighting Wolf Hawkfield. The American wrester tried to grab Kathy and slam her into the canvas, but was stopped when Rico slammed her hammer into his back.

Wolf, thinking quickly, thrust his foot behind himself and get lucky, hitting Rico in the face. However, this meant that he had to take his eyes off of Kathy, whom gave him a hard kick square in the stomach.

"_This is getting tricky."_ Wolf thought as he picked up Kathy and threw her into Rico. _"I'm only used to fighting one-on-one. Taking on two opponents at once is something I'm not used to."_

Realizing that he'd need to even the odds somehow, Wolf quickly grabbed Rico, picked her up and threw her away, then resumed his fight with Kathy alone.

Ralf swung his fist, catching Xigbar in the face. The Organization member stepped back a couple of steps, Zelda still clinging to his arm.

"I must admit, you're really good, even with someone attached to your arm." Ralf said with a smirk.

"Thanks. Now if she would just let GO of it." Xigbar muttered, now giving up on getting Zelda off him because nothing would get through to her.

"Mmm…Comfy." Zelda purred as she nuzzled against Xigbar's shoulder. Both soldier and gunner sweatropped.

"Look, could we get back to the fight?" Xigbar asked. "Moving around a lot seems to help the circulation in my arm a bit."

Ralf nodded. "Sure." With that, he jumped at Xigbar and lashed out his foot.

Xigbar quickly held up his free arm and blocked the kick, then lashed out, smashing his gun over the Ikari Warrior's head.

Ralf stepped back and slapped a fist into his palm. "Time for me to bring out the big guns, it seems." He then rushed at Xigbar, screaming 'GALACTICA PHAMTOM!'.

Xigbar, however, saw the attack coming and rushed to the side, dragging Zelda with him. Ralf flew past Xigbar and continued the attack.

However, Rico was unfortunate enough to fly into the battle during this time. Ralf's powerful flaming punch struck her in midair, hitting her with enough force to send her clear out of the arena with no hope of return.

Ralf sweatdropped again. "Uh…Oops?"

Rico landed in Harvest Moon. The lead character of the game quickly picked a flower from the ground and offered it to her.

Back in the arena, Kathy saw her friend get eliminated. "Rico!" She cried.

Wolf, on the other hand, laughed. "Oh, man! That was amazing! I can't believe how timely that was! Man, what are the chances of that happening again?"

Kathy's mind clouded as she slowly turned to face Wolf, narrowing her eyes in uncharacteristic fury.

Wolf, still laughing, chose that time to look at Kathy. Once he saw the anger in her eyes, his laughing stopped. "Uh…What?"

"Ya'll threw Rico over there!" Kathy shouted. "Ya'll caused her ta be eliminated!"

"Hey now! You two were double-teaming me and just threw your friend to another part of the arena!" Wol insisted. "I didn't know where she was going!"

"It don't matter!" Kathy boomed. "Ya'll STILL were the one ta do it, partner!"

"So what're you gonna do about it?" Wolf asked, showing Kathy that he was at least a foot taller than her.

Kathy growled, pulled her foot back and sent it straight into Wolf's crotch. Wolf's eyes widened in pain as he collapsed to his knees. This brought his head lower to the ground, which Kathy promptly gave a strong uppercut to.

Wolf, still in severe pain, flew backwards and landed on his back, pretty close to the ropes. The red-haired wrestler slowly got to his feet, not really noticing Kathy stampeding over to him.

Once she got close enough, Kathy leapt into the air and thrust both feet out, planting them into Wolf's back. This wasn't a very powerful attack, but it managed to push Wolf over the ropes and out of the arena.

Wolf landed in Unreal Championship. Because he was still in pain, he was a fairly easy target. However, none of the people playing the game seemed to notice him because a member of the blue team had just swiped the red team's flag. All of the players on the red team stampeded over Wolf, trying to catch the punk with the flag.

Shura kicked at Chun-Li, hoping to make contact with her face. Ever since he had picked a fight with Chun-Li, Shura wasn't having the best of luck. He had found himself lucky to simply attack once before his opponent managed land three strikes in a row.

Even still, Shura wasn't one to give up easily, no matter how badly he was losing the fight. And his current kick had proven to be a success, striking Chun-Li in the face. Shura used the time she was distracted to his advantage and advanced, kicking three more times.

Chun-Li was struck twice in the stomach and once more in the face. The policewoman flew back a few feet, but turned herself upright in midair and landed gracefully back on the canvas.

Chun-Li smirked. "I never thought Shura, of all the World Heroes, would be giving me THIS tough of a time." She chuckled.

Standing up, Chun-Li gathered up energy in her hands again.

"KIKOKEN!" Chun-Li screamed as she lashed out her hands, firing a ball of blue energy at Shura.

Shura saw the attack coming and lifted his leg, blocking the attack. Chun-Li, however, was anticipating this and rushed at Shura.

Once she got close enough, Chun-Li leapt into the air, turned upside-down and spun around, kicking rapidly. Shura got struck in the face with every attack of Chun-Li's Spinning Bird Kick, and once the move was finished, Shura was launched back, into a turnbuckle.

Seeing her chance, Chun-Li rushed at Shura, deciding to end the fight.

Shura regained his senses in time to see Chun-Li coming at him, and quickly thrust his foot in her direction.

Unfortunately for him, Chun-Li wasn't close enough yet, and his kick struck nothing but the air just in front of him.

Chun-Li smirked as Shura's eyes widened. He knew that he was in severe trouble now.

One powerful kick later and Shura was sent flying out of the arena. Chun-Li lowered her foot.

Shura landed in Rayman 3. At first, Shura considered himself lucky, but unfortunately for him, an inflated Globox had chosen that time to float above him and run out of energy. Gobox deflated in midair and dropped all 400 pounds of him on top of Shura.

**(U.S. Acres) **

Joe sighed as he sat amongst the chaos erupting around him. Orson was trying to strike up a conversation, but Joe couldn't really hear him. Wade was running around, screaming his head off about chickens. Roy and Lanolin were having their usual argument, getting louder and louder each time they opened their mouths. Booker was chasing a worm around the farm, trying to catch it. Sheldon and Bo were the only ones not making any noise, because Sheldon was tanning his shell and Bo was just staring off into space with a stupid expression.

The Thai kickboxer sighed. "Just seven more minutes and then I'm out of this nutfarm."

"NUTFARM?" Wade screamed, somehow being able to hear Joe. He screamed even louder and ran up a tree.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Vivian's shadow raced through the dome, faster than usual. This was because she had finally found out how the villains were going to pull of this plan of theirs and she wanted to get back to the lobby as fast as she could.

The main reason Vivian stayed as a shadow on the ground was because if she ran into any villains on her way back to the lobby, she'd be able to slip around them without being noticed. The absolute last thing Vivian wanted after finding out vital information was a fight.

As Vivian raced down the hallway, her shadow passed by the five members of the security force.

Psymon noticed the circular shadow on the floor and his head followed it until it went around a corner. "I think I just saw a shadow move along the floor by itself." The crazed snowboarder said aloud.

Joanna looked at Psymon with an odd glare. "Okay, that's it. No more caramel pizza for you tonight."

"What? But I was telling the truth!"

**(Galaxy Fight Locker Room) **

Rolf looked at Roomi. "We're the last two, Roomi." He said. "There are only two of us left and our node only has two eliminations."

The catgirl tried to look optimistic. "Well, it's two more than we thought we were going to get."

Rolf shrugged. "Yeah. I guess we're STILL doing better than those guys from the Kizuna Encounter node."

**(The Arena) **

"Come on, you hunky man, you!" Zelda said. "You can beat this guy easily!"

Xigbar sighed. He had given up on getting through to Zelda ong ago, seeing as nothing was going to work that way. He and Ralf were still fighting as normally as they could, but both were finding Zelda's cheering (while still gripping Xigbar's arm) annoying.

Thinking that maybe he could get through to Zelda if he tried asking nicely, Xigbar paused his fighting and looked at her. "Look, I'm honored that you like me and all that, but this IS a fighting tournament." Xigbar explained. "So do you think that you could please let go of my arm so we can continue?"

"But Xiggy, I just find you so irresistibly cute!" Zelda whined.

Xigbar's good eye snapped open as all thoughts of kindness instantly left his head. "XIGGY?" He screamed, lifting Zelda into the air with his arm. "THAT DOES IT! GET OFF!"

Xigbar swung his arm with all his might, sending Zelda flying off of his hand and across the arena.

Zelda once again landed a ways away from the fight Xigbar was continuing, and also like before, she got up quickly, squealed in glee and torpedoed at him again.

Ralf saw Zelda coming over Xigbar's shoulder and sighed. "This is getting old." He said. "You think you could move to the left for a second?"

Xigbar shrugged, nodded and steppe to the side as Zelda continued running.

However, she hadn't counted on Xigbar moving to the side and flew right past him, her face going straight into Ralf's outstretched palm.

Ralf picked Zelda up with one hand and threw her over his shoulder, sending her flying out of the arena. Now, if Zelda had been thinking straight, she would have easily teleported back in, but because she was still a caffeine-injected fangirl, she didn't remember to teleport and fell through an elimination portal.

Zelda landed in Animaniacs. Yakko & Wakko saw her and hearts appeared in their eyes.

"He-looooooooooooo, nurse!" The two brothers said as they jumped into the confused princess' arms together.

"Boys." Dot, the Warner sister, sighed.

Back in the arena, Terry rolled to the side as Blazeman's sword struck the canvas beside him. Terry quickly responded with a Burn Knuckle, landing a direct hit to the TFS resident's chin.

Blazeman staggered back and rubbed his mouth, where Terry's fist had hit. "Man. This is WAY more intense than I thought it was going to be." He said with a weak chuckle.

Terry, in the meantime, had jumped into the air. "Power Dunk!" He shouted, thrusting his fist as Blazeman's head, engulfing it in yellow energy.

Blazeman looked up in time to see the attack coming at him and held up his sword to block the attack. The block was a success, but Terry forced the sword from Blazeman's hand, sending it several feet away.

Seeing his opponent disarmed, Terry smirked. "Well, your weapon's gone. Now what're you going to do?"

The respond he got was Blazeman reaching into his pockets and pulling out two spiked yo-yos. This time it was Blazeman whom smirked.

Blazeman lashed out his left hand, firing one of the spiked yo-yos at his opponent's legs. Terry lifted one leg off the ground as the yo-yo went underneath it, but because he was watching the first, he wasn't expecting the second one to ricochet off his head.

As Terry staggered back, Blazeman advanced, spinning the yo-yo in his right hand around in consecutive round-the-worlds. Terry knew that he needed to act fast if he was to survive, and he did the first thing he thought of.

He pulled his arm into the air.

"Overheat…GEYSER!"

The resulting explosion of energy rocketed from the ground just as Blazeman's yo-yo touched it. The force from the geyser not only forced Blazeman to stop his advancing, but it also caused his yo-yo to rocket backwards, taking him with it a couple of feet.

As Blazeman returned to his senses, Terry smirked and lashed out two Power Waves, sending them in Blazeman's direction.

The Fallout Shelter member's gaze softened. "Great. How am I supposed to get through THAT?" He muttered. Suddenly, a light went on inside his head. In the blink of an eye, Blazeman put his yo-yos back in his pockets and had pulled out a white bow with an arrow ready to shoot. Blazeman pulled the string on the bow back and let the arrow fly.

The arrow soared through the air, surprising everyone by piercing through the two Power Waves and finally finding a home in Terry's shoulder. The elder Bogard brother screamed in pain and collapsed to one knee.

Blazeman looked down and saw his discarded sword. Picking it up, Blazeman rushed at Terry and booted him out of the arena while he was distracted.

As soon as Terry was eliminated, Blazeman sighed in relief. "I actually did it." He mused.

Terry landed in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, where Phoenix instantly objected to his appearing out of nowhere.

Ever since she had eliminated Wolf, Kathy had started a fight with Billy Kane, and the two were pretty evenly matched. Kathy cracked her whip at the British fighter, but Billy quickly lifted his staff and blocked the attack. Billy quickly swung his red staff, smacking it against Kathy's head and spiking her into the ground.

Kathy slowly got to her feet, rubbing her head. "Okay. I don't git angry all that much, but now ya'll went and done it!" Kathy rolled up her already-short sleeves and pushed her pink cowboy hat forward slightly.

Billy smirked. "This could be interesting." He said, rubbing the side of his face where Kathy had kicked earlier.

In all honesty, Billy was really having second thought about sending Joe out to save Lilly, but if the guy really loved her as much as he said he did, he would trust him. Even still, he felt guilty that he wasn't going to go save her.

As he blocked a kick from Kathy, Billy wondered what Lilly would have wanted him to do. {She'd probably want me to take a break from being the overly-protective big brother and have some fun.} He thought and sighed to himself.

Well, the only thing Billy could do was wait for a villain to enter and see what they knew about this. However, to do that, he had to beat Kathy, and she wasn't making it easy for him.

Kathy swung her fist, striking Billy in the face and making him stagger back a couple of steps. Billy rubbed his jaw and smirked. "That hurt, lady." He said. "You're good, but I'm afraid that I need to finish the fight."

"Bring it, ya'll!" Kathy challenged.

The two rushed at each other and swung their respective weapons. Although Kathy managed to strike Billy with her whip, Billy got the upper hand, striking her in the chin with his staff and sending her into the air.

Seeing his opponent in the air, Billy smirked. All he need to do was eliminate her now.

However, a stray laser bullet from Xigbar's guns had chosen that time to interfere. Xigbar had taken aim at an airborne Ralf, but missed and had sent the laser bolt across the arena. The bolt struck Kathy in the stomach with just enough power to knock her backwards, over the ropes.

Billy cast the Organization member a dark glare.

Kathy landed in Sunset Riders. However, as Kathy was walking away, a stampede of horses galloped by. Luckily, Kathy noticed this on time, leapt into the air and landed on top of a horse's back.

"YEE-HAW!" Kathy cried, waving her hat in the air and the horses continued running, galloping over the four heroes of the game.

Gabby Jay swung his fist, but it sailing straight over Ace's head, as the mercenary had ducked in time to avoid the punch. Ace then lashed out with his Sai, but Gabby quickly held his hand in the way of the swing and blocked the Sai, showing that his boxing gloves were more durable than they appeared.

Only one more elimination was needed to end the section, and both fighters were attempting to be the one to score that coveted final elimination before the next wave of fighters came out.

Gabby Jay stepped back and pounded his fists together. He then rushed at Ace and started swinging.

Ace tried to avoid the attack as best as he could, and he managed to avoid a good number of swings and block even more, but Gabby still managed to land several hits to his face and stomach. After Gabby had thrown the last punch (and made Ace stagger back a bit), he bent over, clutching his knees and breathing heavily.

"Man….That…Was pretty rough." Gabby panted. "I don't know…How Piston Hurricane…Manages it."

"Maybe it's because of your age?"

Gabby turned in time to see Ace's fist coming at his face. Gabby staggered back after the punch, but kept staring at Ace. "What about my age, sonny?" He asked.

"Eh…Nothing." Ace said, remembering that everyone that had made a comment about the old boxer's age or him considering retirement got eliminated by him.

"Good. Now put 'em up!" Gabby said, getting into his stance again and still looking as animated as possible.

"Okay, but don't blame me." Ace shrugged.

"For what?"

"Eliminating you." Ace replied as he rushed at Gabby again. The old boxer followed suite.

The two clashed again, swinging Sai and fists. Occasionally, one of the two would get lucky and sneak a hit in, but the majority of the time, the attacks were avoided or blocked. The two started moving around as they fought, going towards the ropes around the arena.

Suddenly, Ace saw the much-needed opening he had been looking for. Thinking quickly, Ace jabbed forward with his knee sending it into Gabby Jay's stomach and knocking the wind out of him. Gabby collapsed to the ground, gasping and wheezing.

Ace sighed. "Sorry about that." He apologized as he picked Gabby up and chucked him out of the arena.

By the time Gabby Jay had landed in his elimination node, he had gotten his breath back. Slowly standing up, Gabby saw that he was in a very familiar arena.

"Well, well, well." A voice said. "If it isn't the punching bag with the mustache."

Gabby turned to saw the gigantic Nick Bruiser standing over him.

"So did you last longer than five minutes?" Nick asked with a smirk. "Highly doubtful, considering that Little Mac can beat your sorry behind in seven seconds."

Nick cracked his knuckles. "I have a match against Hoy Quarlow in half an hour, so maybe I'll train by pounding your behind into the ground."

Three minutes later and a shocked Gabby Jay was standing victorious over the equally-shocked Nick Bruiser.

Back in the arena, Ace smirked and twirled his Sai in his hand again. Turning around, Ace looked around the arena. Ralf and Xigbar had ceased dueling for a second, but were still staring each other down. Chun-Li and Mewtwo were also staring each other down, but they were circling each other as they did so. Billy Kane was still glaring daggers at Xigbar for the stolen elimination and Blazeman took a few experimental swings with his sword.

After a few seconds, the seven fighters were aware that the next wave was about to enter the arena.

**RESULTS**

RALF JONES (KOF)

CHUN-LI (SFA3)

ACE (S3)

XIGBAR (KH2)

BLAZEMAN (TFS)

MEWTWO (SSB)

BILLY KANE (FF)

**(ELIMINATED)**

KATHY (S3)

ZELDA (SSB)

WOLF HAWKFIELD (VF)

GABBY JAY (SPO!)

SHINNOSUKE KAGAMI (LB)

TERRY BOGARD (KOF)

VEGA (SFA3)

JOE HIGSHI (KOF)

SHURA (WH)

YOSHIMITSU (T5)

ROGUE (MC)

RICO (S3)

GUNTER (GF)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Lobby Lockdown 2" **

YUBER (S3) _**slices and dices**_ NIGHTCRAWLER (MC)

Eliminations: Ralf, Chun-Li and Ace, 2; Xigbar, Blazeman, Mewtwo, Billy, Kathy, Zelda and Wolf, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: R. Mika (8), King (7), Bruce Irvin (6), Peach Toadstool (5), Lucky Glauber (5), Chang Koehan (5), Heavy D! (5)

**Surprise of the Section:** Shura got more Live votes than I thought he would. Hmm…Guess he's more well-liked here than he is at the actual UVR.

**Beating His Record:** In the original UVR, Ralf entered all three tournaments and didn't get a single elimination. Here, Ralf managed two in his first year.


	34. Section Sixteen

**(The Arena) **

The seven fighters in the arena were having a quick rest before the next wave came out, and they knew that they wouldn't have much time to do so, so they enjoyed the break while they could. Mewtwo, Blazeman and Ace were the only ones in the arena that weren't breathing heavily, but the latter two were still worn out slightly from their previous battles.

Suddenly, everyone heard applause. The seven fighters glanced at the entrance curtain.

"**NAKORURU!" (SS) **

Nakoruru, the nature girl from the Samurai Showdown series, gently brushed her hair out of her eyes, then pulled out her dagger and jogged down to the ring, her pet hawk flying overhead.

When Nakoruru hit the arena, she quickly went to seek a fight with Chun-Li. "Excuse me?"

"Yes?" Chun-Li asked.

Nakoruru politely bowed. "I am looking for an opponent. I'm wondering if you're interested."

Chun-Li shrugged. "Okay. Let's see what you've got!"

"**JACK-5!" (T5) **

"_You're wondering who I am." _

"_Machine-o-matic man." _

"_With parts made in Japan." _

"_I am the modern man!"_

As 'Mr. Roboto' blared through the speakers, the huge Tekken robot came out from behind the curtain and walked down to the ring mechanically. Jane, his creator and only friend, sat in the audience to cheer him on.

"_I've got a secret…I've been hiding…Under my skin." _

"_My heart is human…My blood is boiling…My brain IBM." _

"_So if you see me…Acting strangely…Don't be surprised." _

"_I'm just a man who…Needs someone…And somewhere to hide!" _

"_To keep me alive!" _

"_Yeah! To keep me alive!"_

Jack-5 stepped into the arena and scanned it for any threats. Seeing Mewtwo, the strongest one, as a threat, Jack-5 walked over, backhanding Ace away as he did so.

Mewtwo saw the robot coming and folded his arms. "You looking for a fight? Very well. I suppose I can work it into my schedule."

"**IORI YAGAMI!" (KOF) **

The crowd cheered wildly for the red-haired Orochi, but Iori paid it no mind. He simply walked down to the arena, hands in his pockets.

In all honesty, Iori didn't know how to feel. Kyo had already been eliminated, so Iori wasn't sure if he should feel pleased that he would do better than Kyo, or be furious that he hadn't been the one to eliminate him.

Once he stepped into the arena, however, Iori saw Billy storming over, a furious look on his face.

You see, back in KOF '95, Iori and Billy had been put on the same team (the third member being Eiji Kisaragi). However, after they lost (in the first round), Iori thrashed both of his team-mates, leaving them behind, cut, bruised and bleeding. Billy apparently still hadn't dropped that, even though it had happened years ago. In fact, one might say that Iori had become Billy's most hated foe rather than Terry Bogard.

Iori raised his hand and blocked Billy's staff. "You really need to learn to let this stuff go." He said simply.

"**RHETT!" (S3) **

The portly duck's stomach rumbled slightly as he came out from behind the curtain. In Rhett's hand was a halberd, which looked remarkably similar to Sgt. Joe's weapon earlier in the tournament.

Doing his best to ignore his hunger, Rhett walked down to the arena and stepped in. Looking around, he decided to go over to Ace, due to him being the duck's nodal companion.

Ace looked over his shoulder and saw Rhett coming over. "Oh. Hey, Rhett." Ace said as he turned around.

"Hey, Ace." Rhett greeted back.

"So what brings you here?" Ace asked.

"The chance to double-team, I guess."

Ace smirked. "Okay. Let's go gang up on that soldier and guy in the cloak over there." He said, addressing Ralf and Xigbar respectively.

Rhett shrugged. "Okay. Whatever floats your boat."

**(Dome; Restaurant) **

Lilly Kane did her best to ignore the half-destroyed restaurant and purchased a bag of chips. The younger Kane sibling worked her way around the destruction and left the restaurant, starting her trek to return to her seat.

However, once Lilly turned a corner, she froze. Standing in front of her, blocking her way, were Setsuna, Ash Crimson and Mystique.

Setsuna pointed his sword at Lilly's throat. "Come with us and we won't be forced to kill you." The dark assassin threatened.

Lilly whimpered as she leaned her head back slightly to avoid the sword touching her neck. Her heartbeat quickened by the second, and she really wanted to scream for help, but Lilly was afraid that if she did, Setsuna would kill her without a second thought.

"Screw Upper!"

Setsuna was suddenly thrown into the air, landing on his back. Ash and Mystique were taken aback by the sudden attack, and looked around for whoever had done it.

"Come out, Higashi!" Ash said, knowing the owner of the attack.

"I was wondering if you'd know it was me." Joe said as he stepped into view and got in front of Lilly. "Lilly, stand back! I'll handle these guys."

"Joe, you can't be serious!" Lilly said fearfully as Setsuna got back to his feet. "There's three of them and only one of you!"

Suddenly, a new figure dashed by the dating couple in a blur of blue and red, tackling Ash to the ground.

"That one was for earlier!" Sodom said to Ash as he got to his feet and stepped back beside Joe.

"You are certainly a persistent little bug, aren't you?" Ash asked, somewhat in annoyance.

"Pal, this isn't your fight." Joe said. "You make them angry and they'll kill you."

"Look, mister. I've been searching for Lilly here for who-knows-how-many sections, trying to find her before she got kidnapped." Sodom pointed out. "Now that I've finally found her, don't expect me to back down."

Joe was silent for a couple of section, but smirked. "Okay. Let's get these guys!"

"You got it."

Ash growled as Setsuna and Mystique got into their stances. Today just wasn't his day...

**(The Arena) **

"**KIM DRAGON!" (WH) **

Anyone that didn't know of Kim Dragon instantly saw him as a Bruce Lee lookalike. As the crowd gave him a mixed reaction, Kim Dragon, wearing his usual fighting attire of a pair of black pants and shoes, rushed down to the arena.

Only four World Heroes were left, and Kim Dragon was one of them. Even still, the node had been experiencing surprising success thus far, and the martial artist was hoping to build on that even more as he jumped into the ring.

The instant Kim Dragon entered, he went for Blazeman. The TFS resident saw him coming, smirked and drew his sword again.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**SIXTEEN**!"

"**Q!" (Street Fighter 3) **

The mysterious Street Fighter came out to a loud cheer, but the masked fighter gave it no mind. Instead, Q was more focused on what Shadow and the others had chosen as a song for him.

The theme for 'Inspector Gadget'.

Q silently looked up at the Sound Booth. Shadow was playing imaginary drums to the beat, Aila was lip syncing to the words and Astaroth was doing the robot behind them.

Q didn't bother to respond, although he probably couldn't. He simply brushed his trenchcoat off, straightened his fedora and ran down to the ring.

Once he hit the arena, Q ran at the quartet of Ace, Rhett, Ralf and Xigbar, hoping to break them up.

"**GORDON BOMAN!" (KE) **

The large cop came out from behind the curtain. In fact, he was so large that people probably could have thought that he was some sort of double for Chang Koehan.

Gordon walked down to the arena and jumped in. Once he hit the canvas, the entire arena shook, knocking everyone (save Mewtwo, whom was floating a couple of inches off the ground) to the ground.

"Okay. You know what?" Ralf said to Xigbar. "I think I'll go and take down the oversized cop over there."

Ralf walked over to challenge Gordon as Q grabbed Xigbar and spiked him into the ground.

"**KIRBY!" (SSB) **

As the theme song to his show came blaring through the speakers, Kirby marched down to the arena to a positive crowd reaction. Once he reached the end of the ramp, Kirby floated into the arena.

Once he landed, he went over to the brawl Ace, Rhett, Xigbar and Q were having. Once he got there, Kirby started inhaling and sucked the closest person into his mouth, which happened to be Q.

One second later and Q had materialized outside of Kirby. The mysterious man looked at Kirby and saw that he was now wearing a mask and fedora.

His job done, Q-Kirby then rushed off to start fighting Chun-Li and Nakoruru.

"**AKUMA!" (SFA3) **

Most people found it ironic how someone like Akuma entered directly after Kirby, considering their complete opposite personalities.

The red-haired Street Fighter lifted a leg into the air and silently teleported down to the arena.

Chun-Li looked over her shoulder and saw Akuma warp in. Her eyes snapped open. "Oh, crap! It's Akuma!"

Thankfully, Akuma didn't pick a fight with her. Instead, he went over and joined Mewtwo and Jack-5, turning the duel into a vicious three-way fight.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Ken grumbled as he slumped in his seat, still upset about his performance in the ring. He had only managed one elimination, and others from his node had done better. He and Ryu were the main characters of the series, and yet people like Sakura, Guile and even R. Mika had managed to do better.

"I don't get it. I pictured myself doing way better than that." Ken mused. "Where did I go wrong?"

"You didn't follow my advice."

Ken looked over his shoulder and saw Jin Kazama looking at him. "What?"

"I told you to lose the overconfidence. My guess is that it just went in one ear and out the other." Jin explained. "If you want to do better than what you did, you'll have to stop thinking you'll do well and actually TRY harder."

Ken opened his mouth to object, but Jin cut him off. "I'm serious. The whole reason I eliminated you so easily was because you were confident you could beat me. Well, I've got two words for you to ponder: Never assume."

Jin walked away from Ken, sitting down beside Xiaoyu.

**(The Arena) **

"**DUKE!" (S3) **

Geddoe's rival came out from behind the entrance curtain and glanced down at the arena. Pulling his huge sword from the holster on his back, Duke ran down to the ring.

Duke considered going for Ace first, considering that he was part of his rival team, but as Duke thought about it, he could fight with Ace any day. So Duke settled for Kirby, whom had seen him coming over and quickly got rid of his powers from Q.

"Scared?" Duke asked the ball of puff.

Kirby didn't answer. He simply inhaled again, this time sucking in Duke.

Duke landed on his back and looked up. Kirby was now sporting orange hair, a headband and a scar much like his.

Duke smirked when he saw that Kirby was holding a miniature version of his own sword. "Oh, THIS is gonna get interesting."

"**ICEMAN!" (MC) **

Bobby Drake came out from behind the curtain and waved to the crowd that was cheering him on. Bobby closed his eyes and concentrated, encasing his body in the familiar ice that he used, becoming Iceman.

Iceman ran down to the ring, jumped into the air and created a slide of ice just underneath him. Iceman slid down the rest of the way and landed on his feet. His first action was to fire a beam of ice at Rhett, encasing the duck in a block of ice.

Ace saw him and his eyes narrowed. "Okay. That was cheap." He said as Rhett broke out of the ice block. And with that, the mercenary advanced on Iceman, leaving Rhatt and Q to continue fighting Xigbar.

"**YUKI!" (LB) **

Holding her weapon, a pole with a bladed end, Yuki sighed as she stood outside the entrance curtain and witnessed the carnage in the arena.

Knowing that there wouldn't be anything she could do to stop the senseless violence, Yuki went down to the ring and jumped in.

Yuki went around the fight Blazeman was having with Kim Dragon and went over to the duel Chun-Li was having with Nakoruru. With one swing of her weapon, Yuki sent Chun-Li flying away.

Nakoruru eyed Yuki strangely. "What was that for?"

"Seeing that there isn't anything I can do to stop the violence, I may as well go with it." Yuki replied with a sigh.

"And now, the final fighter in this section…"

"**DUO LON!" (KOF) **

In all honesty, Duo Lon wasn't that surprised to see his former team-mate, Ash Crimson, hanging around with villains a few sections ago. Duo Lon could really have cared less about what happened to Ash, because the ninja's only goal was to find and destroy Ron, an evil ninja, before he got his hands on the power held by Sie Kensou.

Duo Lon stepped into the arena and sprung into action, lashing out at Ralf and Gordon, striking them with an unusual form of energy at the same time.

Ralf rubbed his head. "What did you do that for, man?" He asked.

"It's a free-for-all, isn't it?" Duo Lon asked simply.

Ralf was silent. "Fine. You wanna fight? Let's see if you can do any better than your buddies Ash and Shen Woo."

"They're more of acquaintances, really." Duo Lon muttered. "But okay."


	35. Section Sixteen Results

**(The Arena) **

Iori casually blocked Billy's staff again and smacked the British fighter in the face. Billy had been furiously attacking Iori ever since the redhead Orochi had entered, but Iori had been blocking the majority of his opponent's swings.

"_I need to be extremely careful here."_ Iori thought. _"I can't let the Orochi take control of me here. Not with all of these people here."_

Unlike what some people thought, Iori disliked violence, but almost never let it show. The only times he longed for violence was when the Orochi was in control of his body, sending him into Riot of Blood mode. Leona, a blue-haired girl from his node, also had a similar problem.

Slowly, but surely, Iori was starting to gain more control over the Orochi, because if he wasn't he wouldn't have joined up with Kyo Kusanagi two years in a row.

But this wasn't Kyo. This was Billy, whom would take a long time, if any, to drop a grudge. Billy lashed out again, this time at Iori's feet.

Meanwhile, the three-way fight between Mewtwo, Jack-5 and Akuma had turned into a stand-off. The three were circling each other, looking back and forth cautiously between their opponents.

Even still, none of them attacked. It was almost as if they were waiting for their opponents to attack.

Akuma waited a few more seconds before lashing out his hands, launching a fireball at Jack-5. This prompted Mewtwo to seize his chance and send a previously-charged Shadow Ball into Akuma's side.

Jack-5, in the meantime, had blocked Akuma's fireball and looked up in time to see the dark Street Fighter and Mewtwo fighting again. The huge robot lumbered into the battle and swung his fist, striking Mewtwo in the face.

Duke swung his sword down, only to have Kirby parry it with a smaller version of it. Kirby smirked, brushed his hair (or Duke's. Whatever floats your boat) out of his face and lunged at the Suikoden mercenary again.

Duke raised his oversized sword to block Kirby's attack, but was surprised to see the ball of pink fly over his head, spinning like an experienced ninja.

"I can't do that!" Duke insisted as Kirby landed on his feet. "I thought you were copying me!"

Kirby didn't reply. He simply jumped up and kicked Duke in the face with his stubby foot.

**(Dome; Lobby) **

"Well, this isn't good." D! muttered as the team stood over the beaten and unconscious Nightcrawler. The paramedics had just arrived and had loaded the blue-skinned mutant onto a stretcher. "Is he gonna be alright?"

"If we treat him as soon as we get back to the Recovery Room, then yes." Dr. Tuta replied. "Don't worry, though. We'll get him back on his feet before the night is out."

"Good to hear." D! replied with a nod.

D! looked over his shoulder and saw Nei coming over. "What is it, Nei?"

"I think I'd better go with them." Nei explained. "I'm slightly experienced with healing abilities and I could help Nightcrawler recover quicker."

D! sighed and looked at Nei's nodal companions. "Is it okay if she goes with the doctors, guys?"

Samus nodded. "She's right. She knows almost as much about medicine as any doctor. She could help the poor guy recover."

"Samus is right." Reed replied. He wasn't holding the ice pack to his head anymore, but was sporting a lump right in the middle of his forehead. "Nightcrawler looked like he lost a lot of blood."

Watari, being Watari, didn't bother to add his two cents and nodded without looking at D!. The black boxer looked at Nei again. "Okay. I think we'll be able to manage without you."

"I'm sure you will." Nei nodded. "Hopefully, I'll see you after the tournament finishes."

"What's that supposed to mean?" D! asked as Nei left the lobby, following the paramedics.

"Well, now what?" Falco sighed.

"Stop picking fights for starters." D! replied. "Other than that, we keep waiting for Vivian to come back."

"Hey, guys!" Everyone heard Chonrei shout. They looked at the young-looking fighter and saw him pointing at a circular shadow that was racing into the lobby. "Here she comes!"

When Vivian arrived, she shot from the floor, breathing heavily. "Sorry I took so long, guys." The Shadow Siren panted. "Running from one side of the dome to the other is harder than it looks."

"Did you find out anything?" Cody asked, stepping forward.

"I did! I found out almost everything!" Vivian explained.

"So what's going on?" J. Maxx asked.

"Come over here." Vivian said, directing everyone to a corner of the lobby. "I'll tell you."

**(Dome; Hallway) **

The Blob lumbered down a hallway all by his lonesome, to where Magneto had informed him to go. The Blob's purpose in this whole plan was to act as a guard, much like Ripper and Hopper were. Blob didn't mind this. He was close to the restaurant, so he could easily grab something to eat if he was ever hungry.

"I wonder if I'll meet up with any of these guys going against Bison." Blob mused. "I would really like to beat some of them up."

Blob leaned his amazingly overweight body against a wall and folded his arms. "I dunno what that Bison guy's planning, though. It must be really big if he didn't trust me enough to tell me about it." He scratched his head in thought. "What's the big deal with all of those kids, though? I don't even know any of them, so they MUST be powerful."

Blob suddenly felt someone tap his shoulder. Looking to his left, Blob's eyes snapped open when he found himself staring down an insanely-ticked-off Toppo.

**(The Arena) **

Gordon's tonfas swung over Ralf's head as the Ikari Warrior ducked low to the ground. Ralf quickly lashed out his foot, tripping the huge cop and sending him crashing to the canvas, shaking the entire arena.

Ralf quickly stood up and advanced on Gordon, but the giant man jumped to his feet and hit Ralf with a left hook. Now, if it had just been his fist, Ralf wouldn't have had a problem, but Gordon had also struck him with the blunt end of one of his tonfas at the same time. Ralf staggered back and clutched his face.

"Man. That almost hurt." Ralf muttered, rubbing the right side of his face.

The gears in Ralf's mind were turning insanely fast as he tried to come up with some way to eliminate the large man.

"_I can't go for the stomach."_ Ralf thought. _"That Percival guy tried that on Raiden earlier in the tournament and didn't fare very well."_

Gordon smirked and swung again. Ralf held up his hands and stopped the tonfa from striking his forehead, but quickly struggled to keep it from doing so. Despite Gordon's huge size, he was surprisingly strong, and was slowly, but surely, winning the struggle with the tonfa. Ralf knew that he had to do something extremely quickly to get out of this.

Pushing with all his might, Ralf jumped away from Gordon and leapt at him. Gordon wasn't expecting Ralf to jump away from him, so he couldn't stop himself from swinging his tonfa down at the ground, despite Ralf not being there anymore. Gordon looked up and Ralf kicked him in the face.

As Gordon staggered back, Ralf grabbed his arm. It took a lot of effort and most of his remaining strength, but Ralf was able to thrown Gordon away from him, sending him at Chun-Li.

The policewoman saw Gordon flying at her. "Hmm…That's odd. I never knew men of that size could be thrown so easily." She mused as he jumped into the air.

Gordon flew past the airborne Chun-Li, but the female fighter quickly struck him with her foot, knocking him out of the arena.

Gordon landed in Urban Fight, where he beat the tar out of the two fighters for having a pointless fight.

Rhett swung his halberd at Xigbar, but the Organization member jumped to safety, only to have Q grab him from behind and throw him to the ground.

Xigbar was glad that Zelda had been eliminated, because now he could move around freely and easily. However, even with the Hylian princess off of his arm, Xigbar was having a difficult time dodging attacks from two opponents at once.

Thinking quickly, Xigbar aimed one of his guns at Q's face and fired, sending a laser bolt into the eye socket of Q's mask. Q stepped back and grasped his face in pain, but he strangely wasn't making any noise or cries of agony while doing so.

Xigbar didn't have time to stare at the strange show, because Rhett had taken another swing with his weapon. Xigbar easily blocked the attack.

"Look, kid. You don't really seem like a fighter that much." Xigbar reasoned with the duck. "Did you even WANT to come here?"

"Well, no." Rhett admitted. "My main reason for accepting the invitation was to see what kind of edible delicacies these different nodes have. I would honestly much rather become a chef than a warrior."

"Then why not chicken out and not enter the arena at all?" Xigbar asked, an eyebrow raised. He took a moment to swing his fist behind himself and nail the recovered Q in the stomach.

"Um…Hello? The rule states that if you accept the invitation, you have to enter the arena." Rhett said. "If I didn't enter, they probably would have thrown me from the hotel."

"Yeah, I guess it WAS a stupid question." Xigbar shrugged. "Well, I guess we should finish the fight."

"If we must." Rhett sighed.

Rhett advanced on the cloaked Nobody and swung his weapon again. Xigbar quickly sidestepped it and grabbed Rhett by the back of his shirt.

"Might as well put the kid out of his misery." Xigbar mused as he hurled Rhett out of the arena. Xigbar turned in time to see Q bring his fist down onto his head.

Rhett landed in the node of Looney Tunes. Unfortunately, it was duck season. Rhett spent the next ten minutes running from Elmer Fudd.

Kim Dragon jumped over Blazeman's sword as the TFS'er tried to take out his legs. The Chinese man quickly kicked Blazeman in the face while he was in midair, making his opponent step back.

Blazeman shook his head back and forth to regain his senses and looked at Kim Dragon. "Okay, so you're one of the more talented World Heroes." He said.

"Thank you." Kim Dragon said, bowing slightly. "However, I'm afraid I can't give myself that title unless I score an elimination, like Kidd or Janne did."

Blazeman smirked. "Well, let's see what you've got." He said, motioning for Kim Dragon to advance.

That's exactly what the World Hero did. Kim Dragon lunged at Blazeman in a flying kick (which Mortal Kombat fans noted looked somewhat similar to Liu Kang's Bicycle Kick). Blazeman held up his sword and blocked the first foot, but the second was sent straight into his face.

While the kick hurt, Blazeman ignored the pain and lashed out his fist with Kim Dragon was still in the air. Blazeman managed to catch the World Hero in the jaw, sending the Chinese man to the canvas.

Blazeman, sensing an opportunity, rushed at Kim Dragon and swung his sword. Kim Dragon, having more awareness than half the others in his node, rolled out of the way and sprung to his feet again.

The two fighters stared each other down, breathing heavily. Kim Dragon cracked his knuckles as Blazeman grabbed the handle of his sword with both hands to get a better grip.

Suddenly, the two sprang into action, racing at each other. Kim Dragon swung his fist in the most powerful punch he could muster while Blazeman prepared to swing his sword.

Once the two got close to each other, they acted, attacking each other as they ran by their respective opponent.

The two came to a halt a few feet after passing each other, standing still. Suddenly, Kim Dragon collapsed to the canvas, unconscious.

Blazeman, seeing his opponent defeated, dropped to his knee, grasping his shoulder and panting heavily. Knowing that he was victorious, Blazeman got up, picked up Kim Dragon and pitched him out of the arena.

Kim Dragon's unconscious form landed in Cruisin' World, on top of a running school bus as it raced against the likes of a car, a pickup truck, a monster truck, a taxi and a delivery truck (and the sad thing? The bus was winning).

Duke and Kirby clashed again, both headbands flapping behind them. Ever since Kirby had copied Duke, the two had been fighting. In all honesty, Kirby was starting to get bored of the power he currently had and wanted to get rid of it so he could copy someone else, but Duke wanted to fight and wouldn't give Kirby a chance.

Kirby held up his sword and blocked Duke's with it, but didn't see the mercenary wind up for a kick until it was too late. The pink ball of puff flew across the arena and Duke walked after him.

Kirby landed on his head with a loud 'Oof!' and rolled for a couple of feet. Kirby looked up and saw Duke towering over him with his sword pointing at him.

"Looks like I win, pal." Duke said with a smirk.

Kirby narrowed his eyes, then closed them. All of a sudden, Kirby returned to normal, and Duke's power shot out of him in the form of a bouncing star. In the blink of an eye, Kirby grabbed it and hurled it at Duke's face.

The aim was perfect. The star smashed into Duke's face, then disintegrated once it did. Duke stepped back, thus taking his sword away from Kirby. Grabbing the opportunity, Kirby jumped to his feet, grabbed Duke, slammed him into the ground, climbed on top of him and gave him a flurry of kicks to the face.

Duke shot into a sitting position, making Kirby launch from his face. The mercenary got to his feet and glared at Kirby. "You little punk! You're in for it now!"

Kirby's response was to blow a raspberry at him. This just made Duke even angrier. The mercenary ran at Kirby and swung his sword again. Kirby again leapt over Duke and kicked him in the back of the head, making him stagger forward a few steps.

Duke turned around and stared down the ball of puff that stood before him. "Okay. Enough playing around! You're gonna get it, now!"

Kirby had been wearing a frown for the past thirty seconds, which was the longest time he had ever worn a frown for. Kirby simply stood still as Duke rushed him again. Once Duke got close enough, Kirby jumped.

By the time Duke swung his sword, Kirby was already in the air. Duke looked up and saw his opponent floating high above his head…

…And then turn into a miniature Thwomp.

And as you all know, Thwomps don't fly very well.

Kirby crashed down on top of Duke, finally knocking him out. Kirby morphed back into his natural form, grabbed Duke and tossed him out of the arena. Kirby quickly replaced his frown with a smile and skipped away, whistling a merry tune.

Duke landed in Cel Damage, onto a set of railroad tracks. A train came by and plowed him over (as well as destroy T. Wrecks' car at the same time).

"Icebeam!"

Iceman launched another beam of cold at Duo Lon, but the mysterious ninja swiftly avoided it. Duo Lon had jumped into the fight Iceman was having with Ace earlier and had thrown the mercenary across the ring, resuming the fight with the frozen X-Man.

Iceman, on the other hand, was annoyed. He was actually enjoying the fight with Ace, but now that he was fighting Duo Lon, he had to get used to his opponent all over again. Even still, Iceman didn't show it. He was determined and was confident that he could beat this guy.

Duo Lon dodged another icebeam and smirked. "Not bad, but let me show you what I can do." He said.

Duo Lon stood still for a second before ducking, then lunging his head forward. To Iceman's surprise and shock, a ball of mysterious energy shot from the ninja's forehead. The freakiest part of this projectile was that it looked like it was made out of the ghostly images of several skulls.

Although severely freaked out, Iceman created a shield of ice and held it in front of his face. Duo Lon's fireball struck the shield, but didn't burn through it. Once the attack finished, Iceman put the shield away and advanced on Duo Lon.

Duo Lon watched as Iceman pulled his fist back on the way over and encase it in a boulder made of ice. Iceman swung his arm down, but Duo Lon was quick enough to zoom past the ice mutant in a move that looked somewhat similar to Lucky Glauber's Lucky Vision.

Iceman, however, wasn't expecting this, and the ice boulder slammed into the canvas. While Iceman was distracted, Duo Lon struck him in the back with his palm, knocking Iceman forward.

The ice-coated mutant stood to his feet and glared at Duo Lon. "Okay. You wanna bring it? Bring it!"

Duo Lon smirked as he kicked at the canvas. The ninja's foot went into the canvas and shot out of it five feet away, kicking Iceman in the face.

Iceman rubbed his chin in pain. "How the heck are you doing this stuff, man?" He said. "Actually, on second thought, I don't think I want to know."

The two rushed each other again, and Duo Lon was the first to act, kicking at Iceman. However, Iceman was quicker, and blocked the kick. The mutant quickly jumped into the air and bombarded Duo Lon with another icebeam. Duo Lon wasn't quick enough to avoid this one, and the icebeam slammed into his chest, freezing him.

Iceman landed on his feet, looked at his frozen opponent and smirked. He then picked Duo Lon up and threw him from the arena.

Duo Lon landed in the desert stage of Aladdin, where he quickly thawed out. Seeing that he had been eliminated, Duo Lon sat down, oblivious to Aladdin running by in the background, cutting the belt off of a guard's pants with his sword as he ran by.

**(Hotel; Lobby) **

Vivian had directed the team over to a corner of the lobby, out of earshot of the woman at the desk, whom was actually more focused on watching the tournament progress on a TV hanging from the ceiling. Once everyone was gathered around, Vivian created a stream of fire from her finger and burned an overhead view of the dome and hotel into the tiles.

"A bit much, don't you think?" Sagat asked.

"You wanna take time to draw it on a napkin from the restaurant? Be my guest." Vivian replied. "Anyway, here's what I gathered. Each of the targets is being placed at specific points around the hotel and dome, forming…Uh…A seven-sided shape. Now, in the-"

"Heptagon." Lucky said.

"What?" Vivian asked.

"Heptagon. That's the name of a seven-sided shape." Lucky replied, slightly sheepish.

"I always thought it was a hexagon." Falco said.

"No, a hexagon has six sides." Ryoko replied for Lucky.

"I could have sworn that a hexagon had seven sides."

"Well, it doesn't." Ryoko said, folding her arms. "A heptagon has seven sides."

"I thought that was an octagon." Cody scratched his head.

Lucky, Falco and Ryoko looked at Cody. "That's got eight sides!" The three said at the same time.

"HELLO? Can we PLEASE get back to the crisis at hand?" Vivian shouted.

The others promptly quieted down and let Vivian continue. "Thank you. Now, right now, they've only got six of the targets. But the way things are looking, the seventh target, Lilly Kane, is going to be positioned right here." Vivian said, burning seven dots into the map and pointing at the seventh one.

"What's the point of having them positioned all around the place?" Jacky Bryant asked.

"If they were all in the same place, it would be too hard to draw off their power because the power would mix, and Bison wants the kids' powers to remain separated until they end up in a storage container." Vivian explained.

"Where IS this storage container?" Guile asked.

"A place where it can easily pick off powers from people scattered in different directions." Vivian replied simply.

Guile was silent before his eyes widened in realization. "Right smack dab in the middle of the building!"

"Bingo." Vivian said, burning another mark into the map. "This is also where the main target is going to be stationed. Once the essences from the seven other targets are forced into the body of this target, he or she will become nothing but a mindless slave for Bison."

"How horrible!" Asuka said, shaking her head.

"Who IS this main target?" Bridget asked.

"That I DON'T know." Vivian sighed. "We still have a chance to stop Bison, because they haven't found the main target yet."

"That's good to hear." Ryu nodded. "If this person becomes Bison's slave, we may not be able to bring him or her back."

"So let's head out, then!" Chang said, standing up. "All this villainy being afoot is starting to make 'The Koehan' desire to destroy it that much more!"

"I'm with him." Jack said with a maniacal smirk, standing up. "When do we get to beat the crap outta these guys?"

"As soon as we can." D! explained. "The sooner we kick Bison's behind, the sooner we can save those kids."

"Well, I say we head out." Clark said.

Everyone agreed and left the lobby, hoping that they weren't too late to stop Bison.

**(The Arena) **

Nakoruru swung her dagger at Yuki, but the blonde-haired woman blocked the attack with her pole. The two females clashed again, but it produced the same result.

Although neither of them wanted to fight, and both would have preferred to stop all of the senseless violence, but they both knew better and wouldn't be able to get through to anyone. Because of this, the two were reluctant, but had to fight anyway.

Neither Nakoruru or Yuki knew this, but Galford was sitting in the Eliminated Seating, watching the battle, or more rather Nakoruru, with awe. Galford had the biggest crush of the nature girl for the longest time, and was really hoping that Nakoruru could finish the battle on top.

Yuki tried attacking again, and got lucky this time. The blunt end of her weapon struck Nakoruru in the face, making the younger girl stagger back. Nakoruru narrowed her eyes and lunged at Yuki, slashing her dagger.

The blonde, however, saw this coming. Yuki swung her weapon down and blocked Nakoruru's attack with it. Nakoruru, however, was expecting this and jumped to her feet as soon as her attack was blocked, then kicked Yuki in the face.

As Yuki staggered back, Nakoruru jumped at her, grabbed her and threw her away.

Xigbar ducked as Q's foot soared over his head. The mysterious man, making up for his mistake, grabbed Xigbar's shoulder with one hand and drove his other one into the Nobody's stomach. Q then kicked Xigbar in the head, knocking him down.

As Xigbar collapsed to the ground, Q stood straight, smoothed out his trenchcoat casually and prepared to throw Xigbar from the arena.

That's when Yuki slammed into his back, knocking Q to the ground.

"Whew! Thanks for breaking my fall there, sir." Yuki said as she stood up and dusted off her outfit, unaware of Q standing up behind her with a dark expression (or as dark as one could be through a mask). "I was afraid I would have fallen from the arena for a second, there."

Yuki chose that time to turn around, but when she saw Q towering over her, she shrank back.

Standing aside, Nakoruru sweatdropped as Q picked up Yuki and hurled her out of the arena. Q turned around to finish off Xigbar, only to see that he had already gotten to his feet.

Yuki landed in the node of Freakazoid. Yuki would have objected to Freakazoid using such violent measures to defeat villains, but was too busy trying the figure out how he was actually able to pull a huge hammer out of nowhere.

Ever since Iceman eliminated Duo Lon earlier, he and Ace had resumed their fight. Ace was swinging his Sai every chance he got, but Iceman was managing to block or avoid most of the hits. Ace wasn't without damage, either. He still had a couple bits of ice stuck to his arm when Iceman froze it earlier and the mercenary was sporting a painful-looking black eye after receiving an ice boulder to the face.

Even still, neither fighter was letting up. Each of the two wanted to survive the section, but to do that, they would have to eliminate their opponent first.

"Icebeam!" Iceman shouted, firing a beam of cold from his hands, which Ace quickly sidestepped. The icebeam promptly froze one of the turnbuckles.

The fight continued. Iceman pelted Ace with another icebeam, this time striking his leg, freezing it.

"Gah! Just great." Ace muttered as he hit the ice with his fist, breaking it. Iceman used this to his advantage and spiked him in the head.

Rubbing his head, Ace looked at Iceman. "Okay, so that's how you wanna fight, eh?" He asked. "Let's get serious!"

Ace leapt over the ice mutant and lashed out with his Sai, managing to slash Iceman across his back. The ice mutant held his back and collapsed to one knee, but quickly jumped to his feet and glared at Ace.

"Okay, you know what?" Iceman asked. "You wanna swordfight? You'll get a swordfight."

Ace watched as Iceman created a sword of ice in his hands. The womanizing mercenary smirked and got into his stance.

The two rushed each other and swung their weapons. However, Iceman's eyes widened when Ace's Sai cut clean through his sword, sending the top half spiraling across the arena.

Iceman paused and held up the remaining half of his sword. "But…How?"

"Hello? Ice? Really sharp weapon?" Ace quizzed.

"Oh…Yeah." Iceman replied. "Boy, am I dumb."

Ace quickly booted the distracted Iceman out of the arena.

Iceman landed in what looked like a mechanical factory of sorts. Getting up, he looked around.

"Hey! What're you doing on my turf?"

Iceman looked over his shoulder and saw a short Eskimo robot storming over.

"I have a fight with Megaman soon, so leave now, or else suffer the wrath of the mighty Ice Man!"

"But…I'M Iceman." Iceman pointed to himself.

"No way! Ice Man's MY name!" Ice Man replied angrily.

The two continued arguing for the next three minutes. Megaman walked in and, hearing that they were both named Iceman, blasted them both.

Back in the arena, Ace smirked and got out of his stance. "That's three. I've tied with the captain, now." He was about to turn around and seek another opponent and hopefully beat Geddoe's score.

"Spinning Bird Kick!"

However, Ace walked right into an airborne attack from an oncoming Chun-Li. Ace was kicked in the face several times and flew backwards two feet.

"You want a piece of me too, baby?" Ace asked with a smirk. "If I beat you, will you go out with me?"

"NO!" Chun-Li fumed and kicked Ace in the face with all her might, launching him into the air until he landed on his back.

Ace chuckled painfully as he got to his feet. "Now THAT'S a woman." He said as he got into his stance again.

Chun-Li sighed as she advanced. She REALLY hated men like this guy.

Ace swung his Sai at Chun-Li's stomach, but all he got was another boot to the face. Chun-Li quickly continued, delivering two more kicks, these at his chest, knocking Ace back again.

As Ace got to his feet, Chun-Li brought her hands to her side, gathered up a small amount of energy and lashed her hands out, firing a blue orb of energy at Ace.

Ace, however, saw the attack coming in time and swung his Sai, canceling out the energy ball. However, Chun-Li was running at him at the exact same time, and Ace didn't realize this until her foot was sent flying into his stomach.

Chun-Li kicked Ace in the head three more times, then did a fourth kick, launching him into the air again. Chun-Li leapt into the air after him, and delivered a midair kick, firing the mercenary out of the arena.

Chun-Li landed gracefully on her feet, then rushed off to start a fight with Blazeman.

Ace landed in Dead or Alive, where he asked each female adult he came across out on a date. He received several beatings.

Iori calmly stepped over Billy's staff as it went underneath him. The red-haired Orochi jumped back and sent a wave of purple fire across the canvas, striking the elder Kane sibling in the leg. As Billy grasped his injury, Iori ran at Billy and lashed out with his hands, attempting to tear Billy to shreds.

Iori's eyes snapped open as Billy took the attack. _"No! The Orochi is gaining control! I can't let that happen!"_ He thought.

Billy watched as Iori stepped back. Thinking he was winding up for a powerful attack, Billy advanced again and swung his staff again. Iori, not prepared or paying attention, took the blow to the face.

The more Billy pressed the attack, the more Iori felt the Orochi desiring to take control. The red-haired man did his best to prevent this, and block Billy's attacks at the same time. So far, he was doing a half-decent job.

Iori held up his hand and caught Billy's staff in it. Iori lifted his foot and kicked the British fighter in the face, knocking him back.

"_How am I supposed to control the Orochi when I'm trying the beat Kane?"_ Iori thought as he stared down the advancing Billy. Suddenly, a light went on in his head. _"Of course!"_

Billy smashed his staff over Iori's head, knocking him aside, towards the ropes. Billy wanted to end the fight quickly, so he crouched low and started spinning his staff rapidly. Suddenly, flames started surrounding Billy's spinning staff, forming a wheel of fire.

"FIRE!" Billy screamed, lashing the fire wheel at Iori. The burning projectile slammed into the Orochi with full force and sent Iori flying over the ropes. Strangely, Iori didn't make any effort to get back into the arena as he fell through the portal.

Iori landed in Green Hill Zone in the original Sonic game, where he sat down and smiled at his plan. In letting Billy win the fight, now the Orochi wasn't trying to take over his body. And as a bonus, Billy might think that he had avenged himself at long last and finally stop seeking it.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

"Screw Upper!" Joe shouted as he created a tornado, lifting Setsuna off his feet. The dark-skinned assassin flew into the air and landed on his back. Setsuna got to his feet, growled at the Thai fighter and jumped forward with a swing of his sword. Before Setsuna could get close enough, however, Joe kicked him in the head.

"Will you make him hold still?" Mystique shouted, trying to aim her blaster at Sodom but wasn't able to get a clear shot in.

"I'm trying, lady!" Ash Crimson shouted back as he sent a wave of green flames in Sodom's direction. Sodom, however, held up his arms and blocked the attack. The American samurai then rushed at Ash, grabbed him and piledrived him into the ground.

Ash slowly got to his feet and narrowed his eyes at Sodom, whom was advancing on him again, Sai in hand.

"You know, Mystique? A little help would be nice here!" Setsuna growled as he blocked a kick from Joe.

"I'm trying to shoot them, but they keep moving!" Mystique insisted angrily.

"You'd be of more service if you'd actually help us fight these guys!" Setsuna shot back.

Joe chuckled. "Man. They actually fight amongst themselves. What's wrong with them?"

Setsuna didn't reply. He simply swung his sword, again. Joe ducked and avoided the blow.

Ash got up and stepped back, glaring daggers at Sodom. "This marks the second time you've annoyed me."

"…Yeah…So?" Sodom asked.

"I hope you realize that I KILL those who annoy me." Ash growled.

"Uh…But you were thrown from the arena in a matters of minutes…And if I recall, you WALKED away from me when we clashed last." Sodom pointed out.

Ash's eye started twitching. "SHUT UP!" He screamed, jumping at Sodom and creating a pillar of green fire around him.

However, Sodom wasn't stupid. He had seen this attack before and stepped back, avoiding touching the pillar of fire. Once Ash's flame pillar died down, Sodom kicked him in the face, then tackled him to the ground.

Ash pushed Sodom off of him, jumped to his feet and lashed out with his foot.

Mystique grunted and shifted her aim back and forth between Sodom and Joe. "These punks are dead." She growled, narrowing her solid yellow eyes as she reached for the trigger.

Suddenly, a shoe bounced off the back of her head. Mystique turned her head and saw Lilly Kane standing there, now wearing only one shoe.

"You leave them alone!" Lilly shouted.

Mystique smirked at Lilly, turned around and advanced. Lilly, suddenly remembering that she was the one they were after, shrank back.

"Why do you insist on standing up for that little shrimp?" Setsuna growled at Joe as he swung his sword.

Joe's eyes narrowed. Setsuna had finally crossed the line. "That 'shrimp' happens to be my girlfriend, you freak!" He shouted as he jumped back. "For talking that way about Lilly, you are going down SO hard!"

The half-naked man lashed out with each fist, one after the other, creating two large tornadoes, which tore across the floor, straight at Setsuna. The two powerful projectiles slammed into the assassin with full force, sending Setsuna flying into a wall. When the attack died down, Setsuna slumped to the ground, once again unconscious.

Ash punched Sodom in the face, making the samurai stagger back. However, because Sodom was wearing a mask, it did little to hurt him. Sodom quickly pulled a Sai into the air and threw it like a ninja star at Ash. The Sai buried itself in the shoulder of Ash's shirt, barely missing his shoulder. However, the force caused Ash to fly back until he hit the wall. The Sai planted itself into the wall, pinning Ash to it.

The white-haired man growled as Sodom approached. "You little punk! When I get off of here-"

Sodom didn't give Ash time to finish the treat. He simply punched him in the face once, knocking him out.

"Well, that's that." Joe said, cracking his knuckles.

"Wait…Wasn't there one more of them?" Sodom asked, looking around the hallway.

"Hey, yeah…You're right." Joe replied, also looking around. He suddenly saw a show laying on the ground and his eyes snapped open, recognizing it as Lilly's. Joe put two and two together. "Oh, no!"

"What is it?"

"While we were fighting these guys, the mutant girl ran off with Lilly!" Joe said.

"We've got to find her!" Sodom said.

"Right!"

"Attention please." Unknown1's voice came through the speakers. "Will Sodom please report to the Ready Room and prepare to enter the arena?"

"You can't be thinking about leaving." Joe said.

"I have to!" Sodom insisted. "If I don't, people will get suspicious!"

Joe sighed, realizing that Sodom was right. "Okay. But you're not going to tell Billy what's happened to his sister if he's still there when you enter, are you?"

"Of course not!" Sodom said. "What? You think I've got a death wish or something?"

With that, Sodom left the hallway, leaving Joe to continue his search for Lilly.

**(The Arena) **

Akuma jumped over Mewtwo as the psychic Pokemon dashed past him. The dark Street Fighter then sent two aerial fireballs into Jack-5's chest, although it did little more than make the giant robot back away one step.

The three powerhouses had been fighting ever since laying eyes on each other, and no one else in the arena dared cross paths with them if they valued their limbs. The three were dishing out enough destructive power to label their part of the arena a war-zone.

Jack-5 reached out and grabbed Mewtwo. The huge robot wrapped his arms around Mewtwo and gave him a bone-crushing bear-hug, then dropped the Pokemon to the ground. The giant robot then crouched low, folded his arms and did a Russian dance, kicking the downed Mewtwo twice.

However, while Jack-5 was busy with Mewtwo, Akuma jumped in a landed a hard kick to the back of his head. The huge robot stood straight, looked over his shoulder and saw Akuma. His red eyes glowed even brighter.

Jack-5 swung his fist, but Akuma held up his hands and blocked the oversized punch. The crowd then watched in amazement as Akuma started using Jack-5's own arm to push the large robot backwards.

After about five feet, Jack-5 broke away from the grasp of Akuma and punched him in the face with his other hand. The sheer force from the punch would have been enough to send an average fighter across the arena, but because this was Akuma, it just knocked him back a few feet.

"Heh. A challenge, I see." Akuma said with a smirk. "I never thought I'd have so much fun taking out a robot."

The two rushed each other again and Jack-5 swung both fists. However, before they could make contact, Akuma lifted one leg and warped behind the huge robot. Once he was behind Jack-5, Akuma lashed out another fireball, striking him in the back.

"I must admit that you're more powerful than I though." Akuma said, more to himself, as Jack-5 slowly turned around. "However, all those weaker than me don't stand a chance."

Jack-5 advanced again, but Akuma leapt at him and kicked, knocking him towards the ropes.

"And now I shall finish off this bucket of bolts." Akuma said.

Performing a Dragon Uppercut, Akuma lunged upwards and struck Jack-5 in the chin, lifting them both off the ground. The move finished and Akuma landed on his feet. Jack-5, however, flew out of the arena.

Jack-5 landed in the node of Robots. He fit right in.

Back in the arena, Akuma nodded once in satisfaction. He turned around to throw Mewtwo from the arena, but saw that the psychic Pokemon had already gotten to his feet.

"And here I was thinking that robot had defeated you." Akuma mused, stepping towards Mewtwo.

"Despite my scrawny look, I am one of the strongest Pokemon around." Mewtwo replied.

"Indeed, you are." Akuma replied. "I must say that both you and that robot I just eliminated are two of the tougher foes I have battled with, but in the end, I, being the strongest, shall destroy everyone weaker."

Mewtwo smirked. "I think not."

The two advanced and attacked, but Mewtwo was the lucky one, striking Akuma with a claw swipe. As Akuma flew through the air and landed on his back, Mewtwo started charging another Shadow Ball.

Akuma stood up and saw what Mewtwo was doing. Smirking, he brought his hands to his side and started gathering up energy.

Soon, Mewtwo was fully-charged. However, he also saw that Akuma was getting ready to attack. Thinking quickly, Mewtwo let the Shadow Ball fly, hoping it would be enough.

Akuma, in the meantime, lashed out his hands, launching a fireball three times its normal size at Mewtwo. The Shadow Ball flew straight towards the projectile, but because of its funky movement pattern, it swerved around it and continued soaring towards Akuma.

Seeing this, Akuma's red eyes widened. "Impossible!" He shouted just before the Shadow Ball slammed into his chest. Mewtwo avoided the fireball, ran over to Akuma and used his telepathy to throw him from the arena.

Akuma landed in Kung-Fu. While Akuma spent the next ten minutes wisely (by kicking the bad guys out of the tower), Thomas rushed through the tower and saved his girlfriend.

Nakoruru swung her dagger, only to have Billy block it with his staff. Billy then kicked at the nature girl while the two weapons were locked, but Nakoruru saw this coming and held up her free hand, catching it. Nakoruru then spun her hand around, flipping Billy off his feet and making him land on his back.

"Man…How the heck did she do that?" Billy muttered as he stood to his feet.

Billy wasn't expecting a response, so he didn't wait for one. Instead, he rushed at Nakoruru and swung his staff. Nakoruru tried blocking the attack, but wasn't quick enough. Billy's staff broke through her defenses and smashed into her side (resulting in a loud boo from Galford up in the Eliminated Seating).

As Nakoruru collapsed to the canvas, Billy stood over her and prepared to throw her from the arena.

However, just as Billy reached out to pick her up, Nakoruru sprung to life and kicked the surprised Billy in the face, making him stagger back. Nakoruru jumped to her feet and ran at him.

Billy snapped out of his daze and saw Nakoruru coming. He swerved to the side and allowed Nakoruru to run by, then smacked her with his staff again. This time it was Nakoruru's turn to recoil.

Nakoruru turned and saw Billy swinging his staff again. Thinking quickly, Nakoruru spun around completely and raised her dagger, blocking Billy's weapon. The two were now in a struggle war, trying to gain the upper hand.

Sweat dripped down Billy's face as he tried to force the dagger out of Nakoruru's hand. Despite Billy being older, Nakoruru was seemingly stronger than he was. Billy wanted to make sure that he survived the section, but he had to beat Nakoruru to do so, and she wasn't really making things easy for him.

Nakoruru smirked and pulled away. Billy wasn't prepared for this and lunged to the side, because he was still trying to push Nakoruru's dagger out of her hand when she backed off. Billy quickly regained his balance, but wasn't quick enough to avoid Nakoruru jumped in and kicking him in the back.

Billy growled. "Okay, lady. You're asking for it." He said.

The British fighter advanced on the nature girl, whom stood still in a stance, waiting for Billy to dish out his attack. When she saw Billy swinging his staff down at her legs, she smirked and jumped.

However, Billy wasn't aiming for her legs, and knew that Nakoruru would think he was. Instead, Billy shoved his pole into the canvas and pushed himself upwards. Billy launched himself into the air after Nakoruru, and attacked her with his feet.

Nakoruru wasn't expecting Billy to pull the move off and took the blow to the face. The nature girl fell past the ropes as Billy landed back on his feet.

Nakoruru landed in the node of Tarzan. The king of the jungle mistook her for Jane, swooped down, grabbed her and swung off.

Two minutes later and a very confused Jane found Tarzan's beaten body laying on the ground.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Galford growled. "How could that guy just eliminate Nakoruru like that? She should have won that battle! When that guy gets eliminated and arrives here, I'll make him wish he was never born!" He shouted in a rage, which was something very out of character for the blonde ninja to do. "I mean, Nakoruru deserves at least ONE elimination! Why did she have to get eliminated so quickly? She could have cleaned up the entire arena if she wanted! Because of that, I am-"

T. Hawk silently smashed Galford over the head, knocking him out and stopping his rant.

**(The Arena) **

Xigbar leapt back three steps and fired his blasters at Q several times. He mysterious man flinched as the laser bolts struck his chest, but quietly brushed off his trenchcoat and proceeded walking over to the cloaked Nobody.

Xigbar's good eye snapped open. _"Nothing stops this guy!"_ He thought. _"How am I supposed to beat him?"_

Q pulled his fist back and thrust it out, lunging at Xigbar at the same time. Q's fist connected with Xigbar's jaw, launching the Nobody back several feet.

"_He's pretty strong, too."_ Xigbar thought as he got to his feet, rubbing his jaw. _"This is pretty tough. Well, at least that duck isn't helping him anymore."_

One he was standing straight, Xigbar smirked and used his mind to reload his guns. "Armed and reloaded!" He said as he rushed at Q again and stared firing his blasters like they were machine guns. Q ran to the side, avoiding the rain of laser shot at him.

However, Xigbar saw this and started turning as well. Q was now running circles around Xigbar as the cloaked Nobody turned with him and continued to fire laser bolts.

This continued until loud clicks could be heard from both of Xigbar's guns, showing that he had run out of ammo again. Q, hearing this, ran straight at Xigbar and delivered an uppercut to the face. However, while in midair, Xigbar regained his composure, turned himself over and landed on his feet. Q noticed that during the time Xigbar had flipped himself over, his hood and lifted up and had gone over his head, shrouding his face in darkness.

Xigbar rushed at Q as the mysterious man did the same. Q swung his fist at Xigbar, but the cloaked Nobody swiftly avoided the punch and ran past his opponent. Once he had passed, Xigbar jumped and turned around so that he was now facing Q and flying backwards. Xigbar reloaded his guns and let four bolts fly straight into Q's back.

This made Q flinch a bit, but he simply turned around and once again smoothed out his trenchcoat.

Xigbar groaned behind his hood. "NOTHING stops this guy!" He said aloud. "How the heck am I supposed to eliminate this freak!"

Q, being Q, didn't reply. He simply advanced on Xigbar again.

"Okay. I just about had enough of this guy." Xigbar muttered as he walked forward.

Q and Xigbar walked up to each other and stopped, staring each other down. Q gazed into the inky blackness of Xigbar's hood, while Xigbar stared into the bright, glowing, yellow orbs coming from behind Q's mask.

Suddenly, they both acted, each lashing out a fist. The fists slammed into each other, stopping each fighter from attacking.

However, that's what Xigbar was planning. The Nobody quickly reached out and grabbed Q's arm, taking the masked man by surprise. Q was equally surprised when Xigbar threw him over his shoulder, sending him out of the arena.

Q landed in Final Fight, inside the top of Belger's Tower. When Q saw the mob boss holding Jessica Hagger at gunpoint, he slowly approached. Belger then turned his attention to Q and started firing his harpoon gun at the masked man, but obviously, nothing stopped him. Belger was so freaked out that he let go of Jessica, whom ran to safety.

Two seconds later and Belger was sent tumbling towards the ground below, Q standing silently at the broken remains of a window.

"Will you hold still?" Ralf shouted at Kirby as he failed another punch to the pink puffball.

"Naaaah." Kirby replied, slamming a puffy fist into Ralf's face.

However, it did little more than make Ralf stagger in place for a second. "Well, at least his punches don't hurt much." He mused.

In the time Ralf had said that, Kirby had already jumped into the air again. Ralf looked ahead and watched as Kirby struck him in the face with his foot, followed by another kick, and another. Within three seconds, Ralf was hit with fifteen rapid kicks. Now, unlike Kirby's punches, THESE hurt. Ralf was sent to the canvas as Kirby cheerily stood on his back.

Ralf growled an shoved himself onto his feet, throwing Kirby off of him. "Okay, I've just about had it with youuuAAAAAAAA!"

That was all Ralf managed before Kirby inhaled him.

Ralf landed on his back, got up and looked down at Kirby. Said ball of pink was now sporting a camouflage bandana. Kirby flashed a cheeky grin up at Ralf.

"Okay, you know what? You've just broke my last nerve." Ralf said, looking down at his opponent.

Ralf walked towards Kirby and kicked him, punting the puffball across the arena. Kirby landed on his head, jumped to his feet and rushed back over.

"You sure don't know when to quit, eh?" Ralf asked.

Kirby once again jumped into the air and slammed his fist into Ralf's stomach. Now, had they been his normal punches, they wouldn't have hurt, but Kirby had copied Ralf, and that meant he had his strength as well. Kirby demonstrated this when he grabbed Ralf and threw him over his shoulder.

"Had I not been a part of it, I wouldn't have believed it." Ralf said, propped up against a turnbuckle upside-down. The Ikari Warrior quickly got back to his feet and rushed Kirby again.

Kirby smirked. "GAWACTICA PHANTOOM!"

As he ran, Ralf's eyes widened. "W-What did he just say?" He shouted, knowing what was going to happen. He tried screeching to a halt, but it was already too late,

*KA-POW!*

That was more than enough. Ralf flew headfirst out of the arena.

Ralf landed in what looked like a dojo. He looked around, confused. "What the heck?" Looking over his shoulder, he saw the huge and ghostly image of a twelve-year-old boy standing in the background. Ralf screamed as he jumped to his feet.

It was then that Ralf noticed several ninjas jumping at the boy, whom swatted them away with a wave of a hand. Ralf was mistaken for one of said ninjas and suffered a similar fate.

Yeah. Life in EyeToy can be like that sometimes.

Back in the arena, Kirby was now doing his classic victory dance as the other five fighters relaxed. Chun-Li was starting to look a little beat up, but wasn't tired quite yet. Billy had a few scratches and bruises, and people would bet that he looked worse underneath his jacket. Xigbar pulled his hood off, revealing his face, which had a couple extra scars, once again. Blazeman, half-surprised that he had lasted this long, sat down and awaited the next wave of fighters to enter. Mewtwo, in all honesty, was starting to tire, but he was doing a good job at hiding it.

Seeing that there were now only six fighters in the arena, everyone knew that the next section was about to start.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

The phone in the booth once again started ringing. Unknown1 picked it up. "Yes?" A few seconds of silence passed before Unknown1's eyes widened. "Well, you guys had better look into it." With that, he hung up the phone again.

"What is it this time?" SSBFreak asked.

"That was one of the security soldiers." Unknown1 said. "He says that his squad found the Blob laying in a hallway, almost beaten to death."

"That's odd." SSBFreak scratched his head. "I wonder who could have done that."

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Toppo, Master Sword in hand, silently walked down a hallway, determination written all over his face.

**RESULTS**

KIRBY (SSB)

CHUN-LI (SFA3)

BILLY KANE (FF)

XIGBAR (KH2)

BLAZEMAN (TFS)

MEWTWO (SSB)

**(ELIMINATED)**

ACE (S3)

ICEMAN (MC)

AKUMA (SFA3)

Q (SF3)

RALF JONES (KOF)

DUKE (S3)

IORI YAGAMI (KOF)

NAKORURU (SS)

JACK-5 (T5)

DUO LON (KOF)

YUKI (LB)

RHETT (S3)

KIM DRAGON (WH)

GORDON BOMAN (KE)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Lilly's Fight" **

JOE HIGASHI (KOF) and SODOM (SFA3)

_**trample **_

SETSUNA (LB), ASH CRIMSON (KOF) and MYSTIQUE (MC)

Eliminations: Kirby, Chun-Li, Billy and Xigbar, 2; Blazeman, Mewtwo, Ace, Iceman, Akuma and Q, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: R. Mika (8), King (7), Bruce Irvin (6), Xigbar (5), Billy Kane (5), Peach Toadstool (5), Lucky Glauber (5)

**Master of Mystery:** With five eliminations and counting, Xigbar is the current leader of the Mystery Fighters.

**Get your friends to vote next time:** Ace was one Live vote away from surviving the section, and Ralf was one Live vote away from getting another elimination. Just goes to show how much one vote can count.


	36. Section Seventeen

**(The Arena) **

The six remaining fighters stood in the arena silently, hoping that this section wouldn't include so many 'big guys', because that meant that there wouldn't be as many eliminations required to finish. While most of the fighters waited without movement, Billy was wiping sweat from his forehead and Kirby was still doing his victory dance. Everyone else wisely choose to ignore the ball of pink.

Suddenly, everyone heard cheering. They looked towards the entrance curtain to see whom was entering.

"**WAN-FU!" (SS) **

"Well, I'm glad that these guys are letting me fight with my favourite weapon." Wan-Fu mused as he carried his huge, stone pillar on his shoulder. "That new weapon I was given just isn't me."

To a loud cheer, the giant Wan-Fu stepped into the arena and scanned it. The only one that looked worth his time was Mewtwo, so Wan-Fu stepped over Kirby and Blazeman to get to him.

"So…I take it that you're expecting a fight?" Mewtwo asked, his arms folded.

"Uh…Yeah. If it wouldn't be too much trouble." Wan-Fu shrugged.

"Don't worry. It's not." Mewtwo said as he got into a stance. "Let's see what you and that stone pillar are capable of."

"**MUKURO!" (LB) **

The psychotic lunatic came out from the curtain to a series of boos. At first glance, people probably would have thought him to be just a really weird guy with an ever weirder weapon. What people that never played Last Blade didn't know was that Mukuro, like Basara of the Samurai Showdown node, was already dead. Just a zombie that used to be the biggest killer of his time.

Mukuro staggered down to the arena and jumped in. Billy saw him and narrowed his eyes.

"_That guy's evil. He probably knows what's going on."_ Billy thought as he walked over.

"**LEO GALLEN!" (S3) **

"_Everybody with your fists raised high!" _

"_Let me hear your battle cry tonight!" _

"_Stand beside or step aside!" _

"_We're on the Frontline!"_

Leo, the last member of the Six Knights of Zexen, came out to a loud cheer and 'Frontline' by Pillar. He waved to the crowd, gripped his axe and walked down to the arena.

"_Everybody with your fists raised high!" _

"_Let me hear your battle cry tonight!" _

"_Stand beside or step aside!" _

"_We're on the Frontline!"_

Leo couldn't help but feel uneasy about his chances. Only four of the Six Knights had been invited to the tournament, and the others (Chris, Borus and Percival) hadn't done that well. Roland and Salome were given invitations as well, but opted to stay behind and protect Budehuc.

The middle-aged knight shrugged and took to the ring. Once he got in, he saw hat he was the only Suikoden fighter in the arena.

"Well, I guess the only thing I can do is wait for someone else to show up." Leo mused as he lashed out at Xigbar with his axe.

"**LAU CHAN!" (VF) **

"And so, at long last, the aging father of Pai Chan has entered the arena." Unknown1 said.

"And the strangest thing? His hair never turned that gray until Virtua Fighter 5!" SSBFreak added.

Lau was pleased that his daughter had managed to get an elimination way back in Section One. Lau glanced up to the Eliminate Seating and saw Pai cheering wildly, probably louder than anyone else was cheering.

When Lau hit the arena, he did what Pai did: Go for a Street Fighter first. Lau walked over to Chun-Li and bowed politely. Chun-Li returned the gesture. "I hope you do not hold back, young lady."

"I certainly won't." Chun-Li said. "I only hope that your age doesn't slow you down."

Lau chuckled as both Chinese fighters advanced on each other.

People were surprised to see the lights shining on the entrance curtain so early, but looked anyway to see whom was entering next.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**SEVENTEEN**!"

"**FAUST!" (Guilty Gear) **

"_Standing on the side of the road" _

"_The crowd is passing by" _

"_But I can only hear them" _

"_You see, I'm blind in both eyes" _

"_So I'm yelling at the top of my lungs" _

"_Somebody help me now" _

"_So they brought a man before me" _

"_And I didn't know how" _

"_He could make a difference, but was it gonna hurt?" _

"_The next thing that I know…" _

"_He was spitting in the dirt"_

The bag-headed doctor came out from behind the curtain and floated into the arena using his umbrella, Mary Poppins style. The song he had chosen was 'Doctor in the House' by B.O.B., and it was blaring through the speakers his entire trip down to the ring.

"_Is there a doctor in the house?" _

"_Is there a doctor in the house?" _

"_Is there a doctor in the house?" _

"_Is there a doctor in the house?" _

"_Check it!"_

Faust felt really lucky that he had been chosen to fight in the arena. Now he could help heal patients and have a blast at the same time.

The first thing the doctor did when he entered the arena was go for Kirby, whom was still wearing Ralf's bandana.

"The doctor is in!" He shouted in glee.

**(Hotel; Stairwell) **

"Okay. If what Vivian told us is true, Junior Maximum should be somewhere n the sixth floor." D! said.

"Then let's hurry up!" J. Maxx shouted.

"We will, pal. Just be patient." D! replied. "Look, it's going to take us till the end of the night if we go everywhere together. What I suggest we do is split up and search for the kids separately."

"An excellent plan, citizen." Chang said, placing a hand on D!'s shoulder with a nod.

"So who goes where?" Clark asked.

"That's what we'll decide here."

"Why did we come here, anyway?" Asuka asked, looking up at the endless flight of stairs.

"It's the closest place we could get into." D! explained. "So let's figure out who's going."

After a couple of minutes, the choice was made and the teams were picked. Anyone not chosen was told to help clear out any villains they came upon.

"Okay, so are we all satisfied as to the choices?" D! asked. When no one objected, the black boxer nodded. "Okay. Let's move!"

With that, the large team split up, going in separate directions. Dan's team left the stairwell and continued down the hallway outside. They were told to search for one of the targets in the dome, so they had a bit of a hike to get there.

"I'm scared, Dan." Mika told the pink-clad man beside her. "What if we can't stop Bison's plan?"

"We will, Mika." Dan replied, although a little unsure of himself. "Well, try not to think about it."

"I'll try."

"Hold it right there."

The team turned around and saw Heihachi Mishima standing before them, flanked by Earthquake and the brainwashed Roy.

"You aren't going anywhere." Heihachi said.

Dan narrowed his eyes. "Well, this is great. What're we going to do?"

"Go on."

Dan looked at saw Andy Bogard stepping forward, Bridget and Lei Wulong with him. "What are you guys doing?"

"You go on and continue the search." Andy replied. "We'll try to catch up later."

Dan nodded. "Okay. You guys be careful."

"We will." Bridget said with a smirk.

With that, the remainder of Dan's team rushed off, leaving Andy, Bridget and Lei to fight Heihachi, Earthquake and Roy.

"You really think you can stop this, don't you?" Heihachi asked.

Andy nodded. "We won't let this be accomplished." He said.

"You've all got determination. I'll give you that." Heihachi said. "But you're all still annoyances in the end." With that, he got into his stance. "Now let's get started."

**(The Arena) **

"**SODOM!" (SFA3) **

Japanese music played through the speakers as Sodom stepped out and nervously waved to the crowd.

"_Okay. All I have to do is avoid Billy Kane and I'll be good."_ Sodom thought. He knew how over-protective Billy was of his sister, and if he ever found out that Lilly had been kidnapped, not only would he have killed Joe for failing to protect her, but probably Sodom also for relaying the message.

So, in short, Sodom decided that it would be best for everyone if Billy stayed unaware of Lilly's predicament. Seeing the Billy was in a fight with Mukuro, Sodom slipped around him and searched for a fight with Blazeman, seeing that he didn't have an opponent yet.

The TFS'er saw him coming over. "You wanna fight, eh?"

"I guess so." Sodom shrugged.

"Okay. I may as well see what you've got." Blazeman said with a smirk as he drew his sword again.

Sodom responded by pulling out his Sai and preparing for a battle.

"**GORO DAIMON!" (KOF) **

The final member of Team Japan came out from behind the curtain and yawned, stretched, and walked down the ramp. Once he got to the end of the ramp, Goro rolled into the ring.

Once in the arena, Goro waked over to Xigbar, pushed him to the ground and flipped on top of him. Xigbar shouted in pain and kicked Goro off of him.

"What the heck was that for?" Xigbar shouted once he was on his feet.

"Well, we need to fight, don't we?" Goro shrugged.

"**CAPTAIN FALCON!" (SSB) **

Douglas Jay Falcon came out, waved to the cheering crowd and raced down to the arena and speeds that would make people say he was the fastest of the SSB bunch (which he probably was).

Captain Falcon jumped into the arena and saw Mewtwo fighting Wan-Fu. He went over. "Hey, Mewtwo! How's it going in here?" He asked.

Mewtwo gave Wan-Fu a claw swipe, but received a hard kick for his troubles. "I'm sort of in the middle of something here, Dougas." He growled.

Seeing that Mewtwo wasn't going to talk to him, Falcon decided to run off and start a fight elsewhere.

"**HALLEC!" (S3) **

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The huge Indian (wearing his favourite skin, by the way) came out and let out his patented battle cry, holding an axe in each hand. Most people sitting close by had to cover his or her ears, because Hallec's roar sounded louder than Peggi's talking, if that was at all possible.

Hallec ran down to the ring and quickly went over to Leo. "It good to see you still in arena, friend!" He greeted.

"I've only been in for about a minute, Hallec." Leo replied, an eyebrow raised.

"Doesn't matter." Hallec said. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Do you HAVE to do that so close to me?" Leo asked, trying to regain his hearing.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Chris sighed and sat back. "Hopefully, Leo can make up for our performances." She said. "If he loses, we'll need a lot more training than I thought."

"Ah, don't say that, Lady Chris." Cecile said from her seat beside Chris. "You were just taken off guard. That's all."

Chris chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. Thanks, Cecile."

"Anytime, Lady Chris."

Chris looked around the Eliminated Seating. "I wonder where Borus and Percival are. I haven't seen either of them since Borus went to enter the arena."

"Maybe they're fighting over a girl other than you." Cecile said with a giggle.

Chris smirked. "Heh. That would make my life a lot easier."

Meanwhile, Alvan watched as Gunter came in and sat down. "Great performance, Gunter."

Gunter narrowed his eyes. "I wouldn't throw stones if I were you, Alvan. Not when you were almost eliminated upon entry."

Alvan was silent for a few seconds before sitting in his seat, pouting. Gunter smirked.

"I only hope we can get at least one more elimination." G. Done said from behind the two. "Rolf and Roomi are the only ones from our node whom haven't entered the arena yet."

"Well, at least they both got really good draws." Gunter said.

"Yeah. With the number Rolf got, I wouldn't be surprised if he's in the last section of the tournament."

On the other side of the Eliminated Seating, Kaede was sulking. Sure, he wasn't expecting his node to do especially well, but he was thinking he could manage at least one elimination. Instead, he was the first one in the section to fall. And what made maters worse was the fact that Kojiroh and Juzoh had managed TWO eliminations each before they got eliminated.

"I don't think I can take any more of this." Kaede sighed. "If I get over-shadowed one more time, I'm gonna scream."

"Hey, look." Juzoh said, pointing at the arena. "Mukuro's winning the fight against Billy Kane."

Kaede's eye snapped open.

**(The Arena) **

"**WHIP!" (KOF) **

The young Ikari Warrior (and sister to K') came out to the sound of Kaede screaming. Looking at the Eliminated Seating, Whip saw Kaede getting dragged away. Shrugging, Whip took to the ring, her namesake weapon in her hand.

Whip jumped into the ring and looked around for a fight. She decided on Blazeman, whom had just knocked Sodom into Captain Falcon.

"You too, huh?" Blazeman asked.

Whip shrugged. "May as well."

The TFS'er nodded. "Okay. Let's do this."

"**SANDMAN!" (MC) **

Flint Marko came out from behind the curtain, dressed in his usual green shirt and brown pants. Flint smirked down at the arena and ran ahead, towards the ramp.

Once Sandman was in the arena, he turned his lower half into sand. His first act was to turn his right fist into a hammer and swing it at Goro. The large fighter saw this and jumped back. Sandman's fist hit the canvas, causing sand to fly out in all directions.

"Hmm…I can't say I have ever fought a man such as you before." Goro said. "How about a battle?"

Sandman smirked. "As you wish. It's your funeral."

"**J. CARN!" (WH) **

The portly Mongolian came out to a mixed reaction and laughed heartily. J. Carn gazed around the arena, looking for any attractive women. Whip was too young for him, so J. Carn settled for Chun-Li once he was in the arena.

Chun-Li saw J. Carn coming over and sighed. "Great. Another womanizer." She left her current fight and kicked the approaching Mongolian in the face, sending him flying away. Chun-Li the resumed her fight with her current opponent, Doctor Faust.

"**CHUNG PAIHU!" (KE) **

The old man came out from behind the curtain and adjusted his treasured cap. Holding his staff, Chung ran down to the arena as fast as his old legs could carry him.

Chung was hoping to fight Terry, but seeing as he was already eliminated, he decided to seek a fight elsewhere.

That someone was Hallec. Chung waked over to the huge man and looked up. "I desire a fight, sonny. I noticed that you don't have an opponent, so I chose you."

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Hallec roared, sending Chung flying back ten feet with his voice. "You have fight, friend! You no hold back!"

Chung coughed as he got to his feet. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

"And now the final fighter of this section…"

"**YURI SAKAZAKI!" (KOF) **

Yuri, Takuma's daughter, Ryo kid sister and Robert's girlfriend, came out to a loud cheer. Looking up to the Eliminated Seating, Yuri saw her father, brother and boyfriend cheering her on. Yuri smirked and ran down to the arena.

Takuma, Ryo and Robert had all fallen. Yuri was the last hope of Kyokugen Karate to get an elimination, and she wanted to make everyone proud.

Once Yuri hit the arena, she looked around for allies. Unfortunately, she couldn't find any, so she simply ran over and kicked Kirby, knocking Ralf's bandana off his head.

Kirby uprighted himself and looked at Yuri with an accusing glare.

"Come on, you ball of puff! Let's fight!" Yuri said, getting into her stance.

Kirby smiled, instantly losing all anger.


	37. Section Seventeen Results

**(The Arena) **

"Just when I was hoping there wouldn't be as many Big Guys this section, they throw a total of FIVE into the ring." Xigbar muttered as he shot at Sandman and Hallec. "Now it'll require more eliminations to survive."

While the laser bolts were going straight at the respective targets, both fighters reacted. Hallec raised one of his axes and reflected the bolts shot at him while Sandman dissolved into a pile of sand and moved out of the way to avoid the shots.

Unfortunately, the laser bolts that bounced off of Hallec's axe ricocheted around the arena. Faust, Mukuro, Whip, Mewtwo and Lau Chan were the only ones aside from Xigbar, Sandman and Hallec that managed to avoid the bolts. Everyone else was struck at least once.

Billy Kane collapsed to one knee as two bolts slammed into his back. The elder Kane looked up into the jeering face of Mukuro.

"Not as quick as you think you are, eh?" Mukuro laughed creepily.

Narrowing his eyes, Billy stepped to his feet. "You're gonna tell me what you know, pal." Billy said. "My sister's in danger, and I know that you're in on what's going on."

Mukuro smirked. "And what if I do?" The psychotic zombie asked.

"Then I'll BEAT the info out of you!" Billy shouted, lunging at Mukuro.

Mewtwo waited patiently as Wan-Fu stood up, rubbing his shoulder, where a stray laser bolt had struck. "You finished?" The psychic Pokemon asked.

Wan-Fu nodded as he hefted the 'Pillar of Pain' onto his shoulder again. "Quite."

"I must say that I'm impressed with your vast knowledge of fighting with different weapons." Mewtwo said, unfolding his arms. "If my memory serves right, which it always does, you've had three weapons in the different games you were in."

Again, Wan-Fu nodded. "Yeah. But the old sword was too plain and the new weapon I was given just doesn't suit me that well." He patted the stone pillar on his shoulder. "This baby's always been my favourite."

"Well, let's see how good you fight with it." Mewtwo said, lifting an almost non-existent eyebrow with a smirk.

On the other side of the arena, Yuri was having a difficult time fighting off Kirby (whom had copied her and was sporting a head of brown hair, complete with ponytail). Kirby was a fast-attacking fighter to begin with, so mixing it up with Yuri's quick attacks weren't exactly the best thing for the young Sakazaki. The ball of puff was now twice as fast as he usually was, and still held all of the main attacks in Yuri's arsenal.

"Will you just hold still?" Yuri shouted, lashing out a fireball at Kirby, whom easily jumped over it.

Kirby landed on his feet and rushed at Yuri. "CHOO UPPAH!" Kirby shouted.

Yuri could block in time and felt the miniaturized version of her Cho Upper strike her in the chin, sending her flying. The young girl landed on her back, but quickly got to her feet.

"Okay, that thing's REALLY got me mad, now!" She fumed as she ran into battle again.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

Unknown1 looked over at SSBFreak and saw him going over a few pages on a clipboard. "You've been reading over the Fighter Roster ever since Mewtwo eliminated Akuma. What's bothering you?"

"I've noticed that we've only got thirty-two fighters, not counting the Mystery Fighters, left whom haven't entered the arena yet."

"So?"

"Ten of those thirty-two are Big Guys." SSBFreak explained. "The way things are going, we'll have WAY less than twenty fighters in the ring during the final section."

"So what's your solution?" Unknown1 asked.

"For starters, I've decided to negate the Big Guy status of Heihachi Mishima, Wolfgang Krauser, E. Honda and Ryuji Yamazaki."

The other blonde, young man was silent for a few seconds. "Okay. Honda, Krauser and Yamazaki I can understand, but why Heihachi?"

"Well, he technically wasn't the boss of Tekken 5, was he?"

"…No, I guess not." Unknown1 admitted. "But what else are you planning?"

"Bring in two Mystery Fighters in at least one section, then scan the audience for any more until we have twenty fighters in the arena during the last section." SSBFreak suggested. "Bringing in people from the audience won't cost us anything, after all."

"Okay. Sounds like a plan."

"Yeah, but now we need to find people in the audience good enough to enter the arena."

**(Dome; Unknown Location) **

Bison paced back and forth, walking in front of a huge machine. In the middle of this machine was a metal chair, where the main target would sit until the essences from all of the kidnapped youth are transferred into his or her body.

As much as Bison didn't want to admit it, he was getting nervous. This team he had heard about had proven to be more annoying than expected, and he was losing henchmen. Blob was hospitalized and probably wouldn't be okay to fight, Gannondorf no longer wanted to help, Lee Chaolan and Anna Williams were who-knows-where and Seth & Vanessa had been set free of the brainwashing Bison had on them.

And what made matters worse was that Guile and J. Maxx were part of this team. Now, normally, Bison wouldn't have cared, but he had both of their kids kidnapped and knew first-hand how dangerous the two could get when family is invovled.

"I guess there's only one thing to do, then." Bison said as he grabbed a phone and dialed Birdie's cell phone number.

"Yello?" Birdie's voice asked.

"Birdie, are all of the targets in place?" Bison asked.

"That they are." Birdie said.

"Drain their essences." Bison ordered. "NOW."

"What's the rush, boss?" Birdie asked. "You get the main target early?"

"No, but I don't want to take any chances." Bison sighed. "This team coming to stop us is proving to be more annoying than I though they would be, and if they rescue even one of those youth before their essences are drained, nothing will work."

"All righty roosky, boss." Birdie said. "I'll give word to the others."

"You do that." Bison said, hanging up the phone. "I can't let this fail. I've been planning this for far too long."

**(The Arena) **

J. Carn groaned as he got to his feet, still feeling the pain from Chun-Li's kick in his jaw.

"Maybe I should try to survive the section and see if any attractive women come in during the next one." The Mongolian muttered. "It would probably be safer than risk it with women like Chun-Li."

J. Carn looked around. He looked to his right just in time for a gloved hand to smash into his forehead, sending the portly man to the ground. J. Carn stood up as the culprit, Captain Falcon, stood in his stance.

"What's your problem?" J. Carn asked.

Captain Falcon scratched his head and shrugged. "Well, I noticed that you didn't have an opponent, so I decided to give you one."

J. Carn smirked. "Good. An easy elimination."

The F-Zero racer's eyes narrowed. "Oh, I don't think so."

J. Carn approached Falcon and kicked (pretty slowly). Falcon easily avoided the kick, pulled his arm back and lunged forward in his Raptor Boost. The flaming uppercut was a direct hit,striking J. Carn in the chin, sending him upwards.

However, Falcon failed to realize that he had just sent J. Carn flying over himself until all 250 pounds of Mongolian landed directly on top of him.

It took a good amount of effort, but Falcon was able to push J. Carn off of him, sending the portly man rolling a couple of feet away.

J. Carn slowly got to his feet as Falcon charged forward, stopping just beside of him. Falcon clenched a fist and pulled it back.

The audience went nuts.

"Falcon…"

J. Carn looked at his opponent.

"PUNCH!"

Forget falling just past the ropes. J. Carn was sent flying clear out of the arena with no hope of return.

J. Carn landed in Unreal Championship. Let's just say that once he figured out how to use a gun, things didn't get pretty.

Xigbar ducked as Sandman's huge fist of sand soared over his head. The cloaked Nobody then drove his knee into the larger man's face. Sandman, taken aback by the attack, held his face as he stepped back a couple of steps. Sandman then turned his right hand into a spike and charged again.

"Oh, snap!" Xigbar shouted, taking aim with his guns and firing several laser bolts at Sandman.

Sandman would lose the spike if he dissolved, so he was more focused on that than he was at what was coming at him. A few bolts struck him, but it did little to stop him. However, one laser bolt struck his spike arm, which weakened it as Sandman swung it.

The blunt end of the spike slammed into Xigbar's shoulder. However, he was extremely lucky that it was weakened, otherwise it would have amputated his arm. Instead, Xigbar stepped back, clutching his shoulder.

Xigbar narrowed his eyes. "You're almost as sneaky as I am, man." He muttered.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Sandman said with a smirk.

Standing straight, Xigbar took a couple of deep breaths and charged forward, throwing himself at Sandman.

However, just as the cloaked Nobody came close, Sandman dissolved again. Xigbar flew right through his opponent, but still went flying forward.

Chung Paihu had been sneaking up on Sandman, hoping to do some damage when this occurred. The old man wasn't expecting Xigbar to fly at him and was unable to block in time. Xigbar flew straight into Chung's stomach, sending the surprised old man tumbling over the ropes.

Chung landed in River City Ransom. Seemingly oblivious to Ryan and Alex kicking the tar out of Moose in the background, Chung walked off to find something to eat.

Kirby soared through the air, still feeling the after effects of Yuri's last punch. The force from the blow had even negated the powers he had copied from her, so the long, brown hair was gone from Kirby's head.

The round ball of pink continued falling towards the ground before bouncing off of Hallec's head. As Kirby landed on the ground, Hallec turned and looked down at him.

"Why did you do that, friend?" Hallec asked. "WAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Hallec's roar sent Kirby flying into the ropes. Luckily for him, he didn't fall out of the arena, because that attack left him too dazed to try floating back in.

Kirby landed on his stomach (or what would be his stomach), but quickly jumped to his feet and looked at the huge native with a comedic-looking frown.

Hallec swung one of his axes at Kirby, but the pink puffball was able to jumped over the attack in time. Kirby then shoved his pointy foot into Hallec's face, making the native stagger back with a roar of pain.

While Hallec was distracted, Kirby took his chance and rushed forward. Kirby rushed over to Hallec and came to a halt. He then lightly tapped Hallec in the leg.

Hallec looked down. "Yes?"

Kirby flipped himself over, kicking at the same time. Both of the Dreamlander's feet slammed into Hallec's chin, knocking the large man back even further.

Hallec slowly stood to his feet, knowing that he'd have to be more careful to take Kirby out. The huge man lumbered forward as Kirby did the same.

Kirby tried another airborne kick, but Hallec was ready this time. The huge man caught Kirby's foot with one hand and gave a hard punch with the other. Kirby flew backwards ten feet until crashing into one of the turnbuckles.

Hallec watched Kirby as the ball of puff stood, but failed to notice how unusually angry he looked. Hallec advanced anyway.

Very bad mistake.

Kirby grabbed him and then leapt what seemed like thirty feet into the air (how he was able to do that while holding someone Hallec's size no one knew, but no one really pressed matters). Then, Kirby came crashing down, piledriving Hallec into the canvas. This was more than enough to knock the oversized native out. Kirby then picked him up and threw him over the ropes.

With Hallec gone, Kirby rushed back over to Yuri to continue their battle.

Hallec landed in the node of Whiplash. Spanx, thinking him to be a guard, swung his unwilling partner, Redmond the Rabbit, at the unconscious man several times.

Mewtwo leaned to the side as Wan-Fu's stone pillar swung at him. The psychic Pokemon then lashed out his tail at the large man, striking him in the chest.

However, this did little to slow Wan-Fu down. The large man demonstrated this by spinning his pillar at Mewtwo, engulfing the end of it in fire. Mewtwo wasn't expecting this and the pillar smashed into his face, sending him flying over the ropes.

Mewtwo wasn't one to go out so easily though, and easily uprighted himself in midair before teleporting back into the arena. The instant he was back in, Mewtwo kicked Wan-Fu in the face, taking the large man off guard.

Wan-Fu quickly regained his composure and swung his stone pillar again, smashing it into Mewtwo's side. This made the psychic Pokemon collapse to one knee.

In spite of the condidtion he was in, Mewtwo couldn't help but smirk. It had been a long time since he had fought someone as strong as Wan-Fu, and in all honesty, Mewtwo was enjoying every minute of it.

"I'm afraid I must end this battle, but I hope to challenge you again sometime." Mewtwo said.

"Likewise, pal." Wan-Fu replied. "However, it is I whom must end the battle."

The two advanced on each other again. Wan-Fu swung his stone pillar with all his might, but Mewtwo ducked under it. The psychic then slashed at Wan-Fu with his claws, catching him in the chest. Although it didn't hurt Wan-Fu very much, it did distract him long enough for Mewtwo to attack the canvas underneath his feet with dark flames. The resulting explosion sent Wan-Fu flying towards the fight Lau Chan was having with Sodom.

Sodom saw Wan-Fu coming and pointed behind Lau. "Uh, you MAY wanna turn around."

Lau turned and saw Wan-Fu flying at him. "Thank you." He said to Sodom as he leapt into the air and sent Wan-Fu out of the arena with a flying kick. He landed on his feet again and resumed his fight.

Wan-Fu landed in Tekken, where he pounded Paul Phoenix into the ground.

Mewtwo, seeing someone else take his elimination, sighed and turned around. Mewtwo then saw the fight between Billy Kane and Mukuro and floated over, silently charging a Shadow Ball.

Billy, in the meantime, had finally defeated Mukuro. The undead assassin was laying n the ground, panting, as Billy stood over him, staff in hand.

"Okay, pal. I've given you enough chances already." Billy said, narrowing his eyes. "Now tell me what's going on!"

Mukuro smirked. "You kidding me? Heh. You're stupider than you look."

Billy growled. "I'll kill you if you don't tell me!"

"Good luck with that." Mukuro's smirk got even bigger. "I'm already dead."

Billy was about to respond when he heard a noise coming from behind. Acting quickly, Billy spun in place and swung his staff like a golf club, striking the unsuspecting Mewtwo in the face and sending him over the ropes. Mewtwo was too taken aback and dazed to try teleporting back in again.

Billy turned to Mukuro again, only to see that the assassin had scampered away.

Billy cursed. Loudly.

Mewtwo landed in Bubble Bobble, where Bub and Bob pelted him with multicoloured bubbles.

(Eliminated Seating)

Pai Chan watched her father in awe. She was elated to see him get an elimination, and was rooting for him to get even more.

Needless to say, Pai was the most excited out of her node about Lau's performance. Goh couldn't really have cared any less, Sarah was off having an argument with Nina Williams, Akira and Kagemaru weren't really paying attention, Wolf was still recovering from Kathy's 'finishing blow' in the Recovery Room and Brad and Jacky were gone from the Eliminated Seating altogether.

In fact, Lion was the only one besides Pai to really be paying any sort of attention to Lau. He turned to his nodal companion. "Your father's doing pretty good."

Pai nodded vigorously. "He's a much better fighter than I am! He'll bring true honour to the 'Chan' name!"

Lion chuckled. "In all honesty, I'm surprised how many of us have been getting eliminations."

Again, Pai nodded. "Yeah. Out of all of us that have entered the arena so far, Jacky, Sarah and Brad are the only ones to not get an elimination!"

"And next year, we'll have a bigger roster." Lion added. "I know El Blaze and Eileen would have loved to come here."

"I sure hope so." Pai nodded. "It would be great to enter a tournament with the entire gang present."

Gabby Jay, in the meantime, had just arrived, having spent a little longer trying to recover. The aging boxer suddenly saw the cold glares of Maxi, Busuzima, Sonic and the Stormtrooper. It was clear that none of the mentioned Mystery Fighters were too pleased with the fact that someone like Gabby Jay did better than they did in the ring. Gabby wisely chose to avoid them and find a seat elsewhere.

The old boxer quickly scanned the area for an empty seat and eventually found one in the front row by the railing overlooking the arena itself. He went down to it.

"Is this seat taken?" Gabby asked.

The two people next to the empty seat looked at him, revealing themselves to be Larcen Tyler and Scorpion. Gabby stepped back again, thinking that the two of them would be just as cold.

"Nah. Have a seat, pal." Larcen shrugged.

Gabby sighed in relief. "Thanks." He said. "It's good to see that some of the Mystery Fighters aren't acting cold to me."

"Because you did better than they did?" Larcen asked.

"Yeah."

"I don't care for such pointless matters." Scorpion pointed out. "My hatred is reserved only for Quan-Chi."

"Yeah, I don't care for that stuff anymore." Larcen agreed. "Not after the gang and I were given second chances at life. A lot of us have learned not to hold grudges."

"Man. I know a couple of guys on my boxing circuit that can learn a few things from you." Gabby sighed.

"Why do you stick on that circuit, anyway?" Scorpion asked.

"What are you talking about?" The British boxer asked.

"You saw how well you did in the arena." Larcen pointed out. "You seem to be better at rumbles than you are at fighting opponents one-on-one."

"Ah, I couldn't do that." Gabby shook his head. "Boxing's in my blood."

"Well, at least you should try and get better training." Scorpion suggested, lifting an eyebrow. "Glass Joe isn't exactly the best role model."

"I'll…Think about it."

"Say, why don't you come with us to the bar after the tournament finishes?" Larcen asked. "You seem like an okay guy."

"I'd appreciate it, thanks." Gabby replied with a nod and smile.

**(The Arena) **

Whip's whip snapped at Blazeman, cracking him in the shoulder. The TFS'er staggered back, clutching his shoulder, but not taking his eyes off of Whip. The young Ikari Warrior smirked and cracked her whip again, this time at Blazeman's knee.

Luckily, Blazeman saw the attack coming and lifted his sword, blocking the attack. By now, his shoulder was feeling a little better, so he advanced on Whip again and kicked at her head.

Blazeman's attack was a direct hit. Whip flew backwards several feet and landed on her back, but quickly got to her feet.

Brushing a few strands of hair out of her eyes, Whip smirked. "I must admit that you caught me off guard there." She said as she reached into her jacket. "However, I'd say it's time for me to bring out a different weapon." In the blink of an eye, Whip had pulled a new weapon from her jacket.

A Magnum.

Blazeman's eyes snapped open as Whip took aim. "Oh, CRAP!" He said as he dove to the side.

Whip fired her gun and stepped back a step because of the recoil. The shot that had launched from the barrel of the gun struck one of the turnbuckles, creating a small explosion.

Blazeman's heart skipped a beat, realized that that would have hurt royally if the shot had actually hit him. He regained his composure and glared at Whip. "Okay. That's how you wanna play, eh?" He asked. "Okay."

The TFS'er put his sword away, then pulled another weapon out: A staff, as long as he was tall. Where he had gotten it from Whip didn't know, but she didn't care enough to ask.

The two advanced on each other again. Because aiming it would take too much time, Whip put her gun away and went back to her whip.

Whip tried attacking, but Blazeman was too quick, holding up his staff with both hands. The end of the whip wrapped around the middle of Blazeman's staff several times, and once it did, Blazeman pulled hard, yanking the whip out of Whip's hand.

Blazeman smirked as he shook his staff, making the whip fall from it. He then started spinning his staff in circles, a ring of fire starting to form around him (which looked a lot like one of Billy Kane's super moves). Whip could have run away, but she was still without her weapon, and without it, she couldn't really do much.

Once he had fully charged, the TFS'er lashed out, swinging his staff and firing the fire wheel at Whip. It slammed into her with full force and sent her flying over the ropes. Blazeman picked up Whip's whip and tossed it out after her.

Whip landed in front of a huge tree, on what looked like a gigantic board game. Whip looked around at the multicoloured spaces around her and suddenly saw a dice rolling above her head.

"What the heck?" Whip asked as she jumped, hitting the dice and coming up with a six.

Whip shrugged and walked forward six spaces. However, the space she had landed on was that of a ghost-like figure. A spiked shell appeared over her head. Whip noticed this. "Oh, crap." She whimpered.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"Ouch. That looked like it hurt."

"Well, the Spiny Orb in Mario Party 6 does that."

**(The Arena) **

"That's not food, you little puffball!" Yuri shouted as Kirby wrapped his mouth around her right hand. Yuri then tried to get Kirby to let go by waving her arm around, but nothing was working.

Yuri then rushed over to a turnbuckle (one that HADN'T been assaulted thus far) and started whacking Kirby against it. Although it still hurt her hand, she managed to get Kirby off of her hand. Kirby collapsed in a heap, stars spinning around his head.

While Kirby was distracted, Yuri looked at her arm to see if any damage had been done. Her eyes widened when she realized that she was missing a glove.

"Oh, no you DIDN'T!" Yuri shouted at the still-dizzy Kirby. "You did NOT just swallow my glove!"

Yuri then grabbed Kirby mouth and forced it wide open with both hands. Yuri looked inside his mouth. "Oh, wait! There's my glove there! So you DIDN'T swallow it yet!"

Opening Kirby's mouth even more, Yuri stepped inside. Once Yuri was inside Kirby, the puffball's mouth closed.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Robert spat out his drink again. Hugo (now wearing a raincoat) sighed with a 'Why me?'.

**(The Arena) **

"It's just at the back of your throat here." Yuri's voice echoed from within Kirby's body. "Man. I never thought it could be so spacious in here. Well, I've got my glove back, so I guess I'm done here."

Suddenly, Kirby's mouth was forced open again, this time from the inside. Yuri got out of Kirby's mouth, now wearing both gloves again. She then picked up the still-dazed puffball and tossed him out of the arena.

Kirby landed back in his home node, where he fell asleep.

Leo lashed out with his axe, but Mukuro leaned abnormally far back to avoid the blow, his tongue hanging out of his mouth the entire time. Mukuro got back into a standing position and smirked.

"This guy's creepier than Yuber." Leo muttered. "I didn't think that was possible."

Mukuro swung one of his swords, but Leo was quick to block the attack, holding up his axe. While Mukuro was distracted, the pony-tailed knight struck the zombie with his fist, and because he was wearing a gauntlet, the punch was that much more powerful.

However, although it DID leave a painful-looking bruise, Mukuro looked unfazed and continued to stare down Leo with a haunting look.

Leo growled. "You're getting annoying." He grunted. "I don't like people that annoy me."

"Heh. What're ya going to do about it?" Mukuro asked with a creepy grin.

Leo narrowed his eyes and pulled his head back. Mukuro, for the first time the entire night, dropped his smile.

The brash knight's head connected with Mukuro's with full force. Mukuro flew back several feet, landed on his back and slid headfirst into a turnbuckle. In spite of this, Mukuro was quick to get to his feet.

Mukuro turned and saw Leo advancing on him, a wild look in his eyes. He was holding his axe with both hands and prepared to chop the undead assassin in half with it.

Once again, Mukuro smirked.

Leo swung his axe, but Mukuro leaned to the side and grabbed the knight's arm. It was easy for Mukuro to toss Leo out of the arena from there.

Mukuro chuckled. "Too easy." He paused to rub his forehead. "But that headbutt really hurt."

Leo landed in an open field. Looking around, the knight stoo up and saw that it was deserted.

Well, except for a small, white rabbit standing upright, staring at him with an odd expression.

"Hey there…Uh…You know where I am?" Leo asked.

The rabbit stood in silence for a few seconds before pulling a plunger around from behind his back. It let out a psychotic scream.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"…Huh?"

"The new Rayman game. Heh. I loved those commercials."

**(The Arena) **

"_I never thought I'd think this, but Demyx would come in SO handy right about now."_ Xigbar thought.

The cloaked Nobody was still having trouble fighting off Sandman, because he found that the only part of his opponent's body that could be attacked was his head. Any shots fired at the arms or torso of Sandman went right through him.

"_Maybe I need to break his concentration."_ Xigbar thought as he narrowly avoided a right hook from Sandman. _"If he loses his concentration, maybe he'll become solid again."_

Unfortunately, no matter how much Xigbar threw at him, it seemed like nothing was making him lose concentration. Sandman then turned his left hand into a spiked club and swung it down.

Xigbar saw this coming and leapt back. He then repeatedly fired laser bolts at Sandman, hoping to do some damage.

Luckily, a few of the shots took Sandman by surprise, making him step back. Xigbar took his chance and sent his foot flying straight into Sandman's stomach. This caught Sandman's attention, and he tried getting his concentration back. He succeeded, but not before Xigbar landed two more strikes.

"Okay, that does it!" Sandman shouted. "You're in for a world of hurt now, pal!"

"As if!" Xigbar shouted back, earning a cheer from the crowd (because it was the first time during the entire night he had used his catchphrase). "Bring it!"

"You asked for it." Sandman replied with a smirk, making his sand-like fists grow twice their normal size.

Xigbar had to admit that he felt a little intimidated, but he wasn't about to let anyone else know that and let them live to tell about it. The free-shooting Nobody fired his guns again several times, straight at Sandman's head. The brown-haired man simply smirked and held his hands in front of his face, blocking all of the shots. Once Xigbar stopped shooting, Sandman pulled one hand up.

Sandman swung with all his might. His hand slapped Xigbar with full power, sending the Nobody out of the arena.

Xigbar landed what looked like a circular room shrouded in darkness. The cloaked Nobody sighed and stood up. "Well, if was great while it lasted. Five eliminations isn't bad."

Suddenly hearing a loud laugh coming from behind, Xigbar turned and saw a ghostly version of Gannondorf floating on a dark horse.

Xigbar sighed, took aim and fired a laser bolt straight into Phantom Gannon's forehead.

Sodom ducked as Lau Chan's palms went over his head. The American samurai then lashed out with his sai, hoping to cut into the older man's stomach. Lau quickly and gracefully jumped back and avoided the slash, then sent his foot into Sodom's face while he was in the air.

The Japanese wannabe stepped back and held his head (or he would have had he not been wearing a mask). Sodom looked at Lau and stepped back a few steps before lunging forward, head-first. Lau held his hands out and caught Sodom's head, stopping the headbutt. Lau then drove his knee into Sodom's face, sending him flying.

In all honesty, Sodom wasn't really trying. He just wanted to make it look like he was fighting normally so none of the villains watching the tournament would get suspicious. He wanted to get out of the arena as quick as he could so he could track down and help Joe, but he didn't want to get eliminated too quickly and run the risk of blowing his cover.

However, during the time Sodom had been thinking, Lau intervened and kicked one of the samurai's sai out of his hand, sending it spinning out of the arena (where it was decided that Spongebob Squarepants should never be allowed to touch anything sharp). Lau then thrust his fist into Sodom's stomach, sending the samurai flying backwards.

Sodom landed on his back and shakily rose to his feet. He looked around the arena. "Hmm…A good number of people have already been eliminated. I guess I can head out." He said to himself.

Because of his decision, Sodom didn't resist Lau's powerful punch that followed, sending him flailing out of the arena.

Lau stood straight and glanced at the Eliminated Seating. He saw his daughter cheering wildly and smiled.

Sodom landed in what looked like a warehouse. "I wonder where I am." He mused.

"Well, look who decided to show up again." A familiar voice said.

Sodom looked over his shoulder and saw Haggar (the Final Fight 3 version) coming over, cracking his knuckles. Sodom stepped back. "Wait! I-I don't wanna fight! I'm not even supposed to be here!"

Haggar didn't listen.

**(Hotel; Hallway) **

The brainwashed Roy swung his sword at Bridget, but the young bounty hunter was quick to avoid the blow. Bridget rolled along the carpet in the hallway and got into a kneeling position, unknowingly right in the middle of the battle between Lei Wulong and Earthquake.

And it was just as Earthquake was about to swing his weapon down.

Lei's eyes snapped open. "Hey! Watch out!" He said as he grabbed Bridget and leapt to the side as Earthquake's weapon smashed into the carpet where Bridget had been only a couple seconds before.

"Keep your eyes open, kid." Lei said as he got up.

"I'll keep that in mind." Bridget said. "Thanks for saving my skin, there."

Lei simply saluted and leapt at Earthquake, jumping high enough to kick the giant man in the jaw.

Bridget, in the meantime, had gone back to kicking the tar out of Roy. Bridget sent a yoyo into the back of the swordsman's head, which stalled Roy long enough for Bridget to sweep his feet out from under himself.

As Roy got to his feet, he saw Bridget rushing at him with another kick. Roy snapped to attention quickly and caught Bridget's foot with one hand, then pushed him away. Bridget couldn't keep his balance on one foot and fell onto his back. Roy stood up and walked over.

Heihachi Mishima and Andy Bogard had both pretty much been on the defense ever since their fight started. The two spent a lot of time circling each other carefully and whenever one of them advanced to attack, the other would easily block the blows.

"This fight is beginning to bore me." Heihachi said. "I enter the arena soon and I look forward to it if this is all you have to offer me."

Andy smirked and crouched low, finally ready to bring out a special attack, which was something Heihachi was lacking. "I'll show you what I have to offer."

Andy then lunged at Heihachi in a spiral, feet-first. Heihachi took the blow to the face and flew into a wall. Andy then thrust out his hand, firing a blue ball of energy at the old man.

Heihachi saw this coming and rolled out of the way, allowing Andy's projectile to strike the wall where he had been sitting. Heihachi smirked. "Okay. NOW thing's are getting interesting."

Earthquake's weapon smashed into Lei's side, sending the Hong Kong cop to the ground. Lei quickly jumped to his feet and rushed Earthquake again, hoping to do more damage.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't get the chance. Earthquake swung his weapon again, striking Lei while he was in the air. The weapon struck Lei in the side and sent him crashing headfirst into the wall, knocking him out.

Earthquake chuckled and spun his weapon in his hand. "Now it's time to finish the runt off." He said.

"Attention, please." SSBFreak's voice came from the speakers. "Will Heihachi Mishima please report to the Ready Room to prepare to enter the arena?"

"Earthquake!"

The giant thief stopped and looked over his shoulder at Heihachi. "I must depart, now." He said. "You grab Roy and go regroup with the others."

Earthquake sighed, realizing that this meant he had to let Lei live. "Yes, sir." He moaned.

Heihachi turned to Andy, gave a smirk and rushed off. Andy didn't bother running after him, because he wasn't allowed back in the arena. Earthquake proceeded to grab Roy's unconscious body and walk off with it.

Andy sighed and looked around. Lei was out like a light, but Bridget was still standing with minimal wounds. "We'd better try and wake Lei up, Bridget."

**(Hotel; Geese's Room) **

Lilly Kane was struggling against the ropes binding her to a chair when Birdie entered and looked at Geese, whom was standing aside. "Bison says to extract the essences now." Birdie said.

Lilly gulped. "What are you going to do to me?" She asked, figuring that she wouldn't like the answer.

"Aw, relax, would you?" Birdie laughed. "It's not like we're gonna KILL you guys or anything. And the essence you guys have in your bodies will regenerate over time, so it's not like you'll lose anything."

With that, Birdie closed the door. Geese silently and mechanically walked over to a switch attached to a machine Lilly was hooked up to.

"Mr. Howard, please!" Lilly pleaded. "I know you're in there somewhere! Don't do this! Please!"

Unfortunately, her cries went unanswered. The brainwashed Geese Howard pulled the switch, starting the machine.

Surprisingly, Lilly didn't feel a thing. She just watched in shock as a light blue mist floated from her body. Once it had gotten almost to the roof, the essence took off, flying through the wall and out of the room, starting towards the middle of the building.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

"What the heck was that?" Vivian asked as she watched another essence fly above them, soaring straight into a wall.

"I don't know, but I've got a real bad feeling that we might be too late!" Guile said.

**(The Arena) **

Faust swung his gigantic scalpel at Chun-Li, but the policewoman saw it coming a mile away and leapt over it. Chun-Li gracefully landed on her feet and kicked Faust in the chest.

"What I don't get is why you so willingly left your job at the Recovery Room to fight here." Chun-Li said. "Shouldn't you be back with the others, helping everyone else heal?"

Faust stood tall (which was very tall) and shrugged. "Well, the owner of this tournament gave me the opportunity and I took it." He explained. "Besides, I'm not one to turn down some excitement, after all."

Chun-Li sighed, realizing that she wouldn't get through to the crazed doctor. She then thrust her foot upwards, catching Faust in the chin. The tall doctor was sent high into the air and landed on his back, but he quickly got back to his feet as if nothing had happened.

Faust straightened the paper bag on his head and looked down at Chun-Li. "From the looks of things, you'll have to be committed. Please, allow me to operate! Perhaps I can save your sanity!"

Chun-Li's eyes widened. "Are you KIDDING me?" She asked. She was too frozen to avoid Faust's next move: striking her with the blunt end of his scalpel. Chun-Li collapsed to the ground, rubbing her head gingerly.

Suddenly, Chun-Li's eyes narrowed as she sprang to her feet, surprising Faust. She then leapt into the air and turned upside-down. "Spinning Bird Kick!" She announced, kicking the air wildly.

Faust couldn't block in time and received six painful kicks to the chest (had he been of normal height, they would have hit his face). However, as Chun-Li landed on her feet, Faust brushed off his suit and resumed attacking, kicking his opponent in the face.

Although Chun-Li was taken by surprise with Faust's first kick, she saw him getting ready to kick again. Thinking quickly, Chun-Li stepped to the side and allowed Faust to kick the air beside her. Thinking quickly, Chun-Li grabbed the suit Faust was wearing with both hands and threw the oversized man over her shoulder and out of the arena.

Faust landed in Dr. Mario, where he made a killing at destroying viruses in record times.

Sandman laughed as he swung a huge, sandy fist at Yuri. Ryo's sister jumped back to avoid the blow and sent a fireball straight into Sandman's face. As Sandman recoiled, Yuri jumped at him and kicked him.

However, Sandman was quick to recover. He turned himself into a pile of sand, went around Yuri, turned back into his full self and grabbed Yuri by the back of her shirt. He casually tossed her over his shoulder, making her land on her side.

Yuri slowly got to her feet. "How the heck am I supposed to throw this guy from the arena?" She asked herself. "There's no way ANYONE would be able to pick him up."

However, Yuri wasn't one to give up. The young Sakazaki charged forward and leapt at Sandman again. Sandman, knowing what Yuri was about to try, held his hands in front of his face.

Even though Sandman was blocking, Yuri pressed the attack, lashing out her hand with all her might. Then, much to her opponent's surprise, Yuri's hand went straight through Sandman's hands and struck his face with another fireball. Sandman roared in pain as he stepped back, dropping Yuri.

Once she landed on the ground, Yuri advanced, knowing that Sandman had lost his concentation. Once she reached Sandman, she tested out something, pushing on his torso. To her glee, she pushed Sandman back a bit. Yuri continued pushing Sandman back, towards the ropes.

Had Sandman been paying attention, he could have regained his concentration and let Yuri fly right through him, but he was still feeling the effects of Yuri's fireball to the face and was still trying to shake them off. Because of this, there was nothing Sandman could do to prevent himself from getting pushed backwards.

Yuri finally arrived at the ropes and gave Sandman one more good push. Everyone in the audience watched as Sandman went through the ropes, splitting himself into four section, which quickly rejoined after passing through them. Sandman fell downwards into the elimination portal.

Sandman landed in Rival Schools. Akira, Edge and Gan pounded the tar out of him.

Blazeman was now wielding his yoyos again, and lashed one at his current opponent, Captain Falcon. Falcon easily lifted his leg and blocked the attack with his knee, then rushed at Blazeman in another Raptor Boost. Blazeman wasn't expecting this and took the attack to the chin.

Falcon waited for Blazeman to hit the ground before continuing his attack, lunging at him with a flurry of punches.

Lying on his back, Blazeman saw the attack coming and held out his sword. Falcon's punches struck the sword several times, but none of them went through to his Blazeman. After Falcon stopped the attack, Blazeman gave him a kick to the stomach and stood up.

After standing up, Blazeman whipped out one of his yoyos and sent it flying into Falcon's head. However, it did nothing more than ricochet off the racer's helmet. Falcon stepped to the side for a couple of seconds and held his helmet to get it to stop ringing. Once he was okay, Falcon rushed Blazeman again, then slid forward with his foot outstretched.

"Falcon Kick!"

This attack took Blazeman by surprise. When Falcon's foot made contact with his stomach, Blazeman was sent flying away, engulfed in flames. When Blazeman landed again, the flames put themselves out. Once again, Blazeman stood up, although fatigue was starting to weigh him down a bit. Even still, he motioned for Falcon to step forward.

Falcon smirked and rushed at Blazeman, whom did the same.

Once he got close enough, Blazeman swung his sword horizontally. However, he had struck nothing but air, as Falcon ducked under the blade. Blazeman's eyes widened.

Falcon delivered a strong uppercut, sending Blazeman up and over the ropes.

"And so ends the run of Blazeman, the only fan-fighter in the tournament." SSBFreak said.

"Well, he did fairly well." Unknown1 added. "He should be proud of that."

Blazeman landed in Zelda: Ocarina of Time. However, he had landed in Hyrule Field, and it was night out. Blazeman watched as Stalfos rose from the ground all over, quickly surrounding him.

Blazeman smirked and drew his sword again.

"KIKOKEN!" Chun-Li screamed, launching a fireball at Billy Kane. The British fighter was quick to raise his staff and block the attack.

Billy had been searching the arena for Mukuro, hoping to get some info from him, and had finally found the undead assassin fighting off Goro Daimon. However, before he could get very far, Chun-Li, whom had just defeated Faust, stepped in to challenge him. Billy wanted to get this fight done quickly so he could continue to chase down Mukuro.

"You'll have to try harder than that, lady." Billy said. "I'm determined to win this battle."

"So am I." Chun-Li said, getting into her stance. "I won't make the fight easy for you."

Billy rushed at Chun-Li, stuck his staff into the canvas and vaulted at his opponent, kicking at the same time. Chun-Li tried blocking but Billy's foot broke through her guard and kicked her in the face, sending her flying backwards.

Chun-Li was quick to get to her feet. The policewoman lunged at Billy and thrust her foot out, striking the British fighter in the face. The force from the kick sent Billy across the arena, landing on his back.

Billy groaned as he got to his feet. "Okay. Forget about the undead guy for a second. I'm going after her." He said as he ran forward again.

Once he got close enough, Billy lunged at Chun-Li, swinging his staff three times in the air. Chun-Li was able to block this time, and all of Billy's strikes hit her arms rather than he face.

Billy landed on his feet and got another kick for his troubles, this time in the chest. Billy was quick to respond, smashing his staff into Chun-Li's side.

The two continued to trade blows like this for the next minute or so before Billy finally found an opening. As he blocked another kick from Chun-Li, Billy shot his foot into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and bringing her to her knees.

Billy sighed in relief as he picked Chun-Li up and threw her from the ring. "She wasn't that bad, and if I wasn't so determined, she might have won." He mused.

Chun-Li landed in Road Rash, where she placed every bike rider she saw under arrest for assaulting each other with blunt objects.

While Billy and Chun-Li were fighting, Mukuro was having a similar fight with Goro Daimon. The large Japanese man was easily showing that he outclassed Mukuro in the strength department, picking up the zombie and throwing him around left and right.

Mukuro, however, was a zombie, and outclassed Daimon in the stamina department. No matter how much he was thrown around, Mukuro would always get back up and never lose any speed. Mukuro showed this by attacking Daimon with both of his weapons. Daimon stepped back as one of Mukuro's weapons cut into his stomach.

Daimon stood straight, rushed at Mukuro and leapt at him, rolling over at the same time. Mukuro was unable to get out of the way in time and was crushed underneath Daimon's weight. Daimon got off the zombie, allowing him to get up.

"Heh. That almost hurt." Mukuro said with a grin.

Mukruo rushed Daimon again, delivering a hard kick to the head. Daimon seemed unfazed by the weak attack, grabbed Mukuro and threw the undead assassin over his shoulder. Mukuro easily turned himself over in midair and landed gracefully on his feet like a cat.

The two advanced each other again, Mukuro swinging his weapons and Daimon lashing out his foot.

Mukuro's swords just barely missed Daimon, but the larger man was much more successful, striking Mukuro in the face, sending him back to where he had started his run. Mukuro got to his feet and smirked evilly. "Finally. A challenge."

Seeing Daimon rush at him, Mukuro smirked even harder and jumped.

Daimon tried kicking again, but Mukuro was already in the air above him. The zombie landed behind the large Japanese man and pushed him forward.

Unfortunately, the two were close enough to the ropes as it was, so Daimon could do nothing but tumble over the ropes and out of the arena.

Daimon landed in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Hookbill the Koopa stepped on him.

Back in the arena, Mukuro chuckled darkly at his second elimination. The undead man turned around and saw the other four fighters left in the arena, scattered around. Yuri was looking relatively fresh, but one of her gloves had been chewed up a bit (probably by Kirby). Currently, she was dueling with Lau Chan, whom was looking just as fresh. Captain Falcon was standing aside, brushing off his outfit and preparing himself for the next wave of fighters, which would be very soon.

Mukuro suddenly saw an angry Billy Kane storming over. He smirked.

**RESULTS**

YURI SAKAZAKI (KOF)

LAU CHAN (VF)

BILLY KANE (FF)

CAPTAIN FALCON (SSB)

MUKURO (LB)

**(ELIMINATED)**

SANDMAN (MC)

BLAZEMAN (TFS)

CHUN-LI (SFA3)

KIRBY (SSB)

XIGBAR (KH2)

WAN-FU (SS)

MEWTWO (SSB)

GORO DAIMON (KOF)

FAUST (GG)

LEO GALLEN (S3)

SODOM (SFA3)

WHIP (KOF)

HALLEC (S3)

CHUNG PAIHU (KE)

J. CARN (WH)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Providing Time" **

ANDY BOGARD (KOF), BRIDGET (GG) and LEI WULONG (T5)

_**draw with **_

HEIHACHI MISHIMA (T5), EARTHQUAKE (SS) and ROY (SSB)

Eliminations: Yuri, Lau, Billy, Captain Falcon and Mukuro, 2; Sandman, Blazeman, Chun-Li, Kirby and Xigbar, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: R. Mika (8), King (7), Billy Kane (7), Xigbar (6), Bruce Irvin (6), Chun-Li (5), Peach Toadstool (5)

**Finally Falling:** This late in the tournament, Xigbar is eliminated with six eliminations. I don't think that any other Mystery Fighter after him will be able to top that.


	38. Section Eighteen

**(The Arena) **

For the second time the entire night, there were only five fighters left in the arena. The next wave would enter soon, and all five of them were getting pumped up to attempt to take the arena on again. Lau, Yuri and Captain Falcon looked at the entrance curtain to watch the next fighter come in (Billy and Mukuro would have looked as well, but the former was still stalking after the latter, trying to get information).

"**GAIRA CAFFIENE!" (SS) **

To a mixed reaction, the huge, young monk came out from behind the curtain, cracking his knuckles. His string of beads (which doubled as his weapon) dangled around his neck as Gaira walked down to the ring.

"Man! I was really hoping to fight that Goro Daimon fellow!" Gaira lamented as he stepped into the ring. "Oh, well. Looks like I'll have to settle for the one that eliminated him."

The first thing Gaira did was step in front of Mukuro and smash his beads into the zombie's head, bringing him to the ground.

"What're you doing?" Billy shouted.

"This guy robbed me of my chance to fight Daimon." Gaira explained.

"Get away from him!" Billy ordered. "I still haven't gotten the info I want from him!"

As Billy and Gaira continued to argue, Mukuro slipped away unnoticed.

"**BLANKA!" (SFA3) **

As tribal music came pounding through the speakers, Blanka rolled down the ramp in a similar fashion to Rolento, letting out excited grunts the whole way down. The audience cheered the green-skinned mutant on as Blanka broke out of his roll and jumped into the arena.

Landing directly on top of an escaping Mukuro. Blanka surged himself with electricity, shocking the zombie, but it was unknown if Mukuro actually felt anything.

"**ROOMI!" (GF) **

The bubbly cat-girl leapt out from behind the curtain and waved to the crowd excitedly. Her cheer was louder than the rest of the Galaxy Fight gang, probably because she was the most popular fighter in the game.

Roomi was determined to make an elimination. Her node was counting on it. Sure, they already had two eliminations, but a third one wouldn't hurt.

The instant Roomi hit the arena, she went over to challenge Yuri to a fight. "Hiya! Wanna fight for a bit?" The cat-girl asked.

Yuri shrugged. "Sure. Don't hold back!"

"Only if you don't either!"

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**EIGHTEEN**!"

"**WARIO!" (Wario Ware) **

Wario, dressed in his classic outfit rather than his biker getup from the new Smash Bros., came out from behind the curtain to a surprisingly loud cheer. The portly man (even more portly than Mario) laughed heartily and soaked in all of the attention he was getting as he walked down to the ring.

"That's right!" Wario shouted. "Watch me fight, cheer me on and be sure to buy my games afterwards!"

Although Wario wasn't showing it, he was in deep thought. He had been in the stands, eating a bucket of popcorn when Lee Chaolan was eliminated. And seeing the silver-haired man kidnap Mona fueled his anger. He may not have had a lot of friends, but Mona was definitely someone Wario held dear and, although he never would admit it, he would have gladly paid off her ransom if ordered to do so.

Wario was brought out of his thoughts when he looked up to the Eliminated Seating. He saw Mario, Luigi and Peach sitting there with open mouths and shocked expressions. Wario laughed even harder as he jumped headfirst into the arena.

Captain Falcon saw Wario come in and came over. "I didn't know you were in this." He pointed out.

"The guy that runs this thing came to me a few minutes ago and asked me if I wanted to fight." Wario shrugged. "Hey, I'm not one to turn down a chance like this! First I get the invite to go to the new Smash Bros. Tournament and now this!"

"And…What can you do?"

"Stop with the stupid questions before I unleash the 'Wario Waft'."

"Shutting up."

"**JUAN!" (S3) **

The blonde, lazy young man walked out from behind the curtain and stretched. The one good thing about getting such a late draw was the fact that Juan got the chance to get some serious sleep. In fact, he had missed almost the entire tournament. The only things he knew were that Watari was the MVP from the Suikoden node thus far and Geddoe and Ace got pretty close to matching it.

Juan stepped into the arena. Lau Chan saw him. "You know? If you didn't sleep so much, maybe you'd be better at fighting."

The younger man simply yawned. Lau thrust his fist at Juan, whom easily and casually blocked it with one arm and without looking.

"Well, the fact that I've got the most combos in one move for my node helps me a bit." Juan replied simply. Thrusting his other hand into Lau's stomach, firing the older man across the arena.

**(Hotel; Birdie's Room) **

"Well, at least I know why the boss gave me a room in the corner of the hotel." Birdie said. "So that this boy's essence could be picked up."

Junior Maximum narrowed his eyes. The essence had been taken from his body, and the young boy bet that this meant nothing good. "Okay, you got what you came for. Now let me go!"

"I'm afraid we can't do that until Bison completes the plan." Sabretooth said.

Junior continued to struggle against the ropes that were keeping him bound to the chair he was in, but all efforts were futile.

"_If I were stronger, like my dad, maybe I could break free of these ropes."_ Junior thought sadly. He DID always want to be like his dad. Now all he wanted was to see him again.

"Look, how much longer is this going to take?" Sigma asked. "I haven't really done much all night and I need to get back to my home node as soon as I can after this is over."

"Have a little patience." Birdie said.

"I do NOT take orders from a lackey like you!"

Birdie stepped back. "N-Now that's just not nice!"

Junior looked around the room. Aside from Birdie, Sabretooth and Sigma, the only ones in the room were Ripper, Hopper, Gen-An and Yamazaki, whom would be entering in the next section anyway, so that would be one less person to worry about for those hopefully coming to rescue him.

Suddenly, Sabretooth jerked to attention, his advanced hearing kicking in again. He looked at the door to the room suspiciously.

"What's up, furrball?" Yamazaki asked.

"I can hear footsteps." Sabretooth explained. "Someone's outside the door."

As if to confirm this, the door to the room was kicked open. In stormed Asuka Kazama, Falco Lombardi, Ryu, Watari and Johnny Maximum (the one whom had kicked the door open).

Junior's eyes widened at the sight of his father. "Dad!"

J. Maxx was overjoyed to see his son alright, but he had to focus on the matter at hand. "I'll be with you in a minute, son." He explained, holding up an index finger.

Junior nodded. "Give them one for me, dad!"

Underneath his helmet, smirked. "You got it, son."

J. Maxx crouched low and focused n Birdie, whom seemed to be the ringleader in this room.

Birdie stepped back again fearfully. "Uh…Protect me, guys."

"In your DREAMS!" Sabretooth scoffed.

J. Maxx roared and lunged at Birdie head-first.

Ripper pulled out a gun and aimed it at J. Maxx, only to have Watari kick it out of his hand. Said ninja crouched low, holding onto his sword as Ripper and Hopper prepared to fight.

Watari, being Watari, didn't say anything. He narrowed his eyes and rushed forward.

Yamazaki looked around himself. Not only had the two previously-mentioned fights started, but Asuka Kazama was fighting off Sabretooth and Ryu was taking on Sigma and Gen-An on his own.

"Uh…I gotta go get ready to enter the arena." Yamazaki said, pointing towards the broken-open door. "Gotta go!"

Seeing Yamazaki slip out the door, Falco rushed after him. "Oh no, you don't!" The avian shouted, firing two laser bolts into Yamazaki's shoulder as he was running away.

This brought Yamazaki to a halt. He looked at Falco and narrowed his eyes. "Fine."

**(The Arena) **

"**LEONA!" (KOF) **

The blue-haired Orochi girl came out to a loud cheer. She saluted the crowd as she walked down to the ring.

Like Iori before her, Leona had to make sure that she kept her Orochi blood under control. She didn't want innocent people to get hurt and thus wanted to avoid any extreme amounts of violence if she could.

Leona got into the arena and looked around for a fight. She quickly saw that Captain Falcon was without a fight and went over to him.

"I take it you want to fight?" Falcon guessed.

Leona saluted. "I admire your strength." She said. "Almost as much as I admire Chang Koehan's strength. I want to see it in action."

Falcon smirked. "Okay, lady. You got it!"

"**HEIHACHI MISHIMA!" (T5) **

Up in the Eliminated Seating, both Kazuya and Jin were at the railings, side by side for once. This was mainly before they were screaming death threats at the old man that emerged from the curtain.

Heihachi looked at the Eliminated Seating and smirked. As he continued down to the ring, Kazuya and Jin were asked to return to their seats, and people found it odd that they weren't carted away like Kaede and Fuuma were (maybe the security guards weren't stupid enough to try and force either the father or son to leave).

Once Heihachi was in the arena, Wario instantly came rushing over (although it looked more like a fast waddle).

"I'm lookin' for a good fight." Wario said, looking up at Heihachi.

Heihachi smirked. "Then you've come to the right place." He said. "I AM the most powerful person in my node."

As if to test this, Wario grabbed Heihachi and lifted the taller man over his head with one arm. He tossed Heihachi away. "Eh, big whoop." He muttered, rolling up his sleeves. "I can bench-press things TWICE your weight."

"Good. I love a challenge." Heihachi said as he got to his feet.

"**BOWSER!" (SSB) **

"Gwah-hah-hah!" Bowser laughed heartily. "It's about time I entered! And the best thing? No stupid plumbers to slow me down! Both have already been eliminated!"

With that, the huge Koopa lumbered down to the arena, doing a Whirling Fortress to get in.

Bowser landed in between the fight Lau and Juan were having. The two looked at him.

"I wanna fight you, old man!" Bowser said, pointing at Lau.

"I'd love to, but I have a fight right now." Lau said.

Bowser backhanded Juan, swatted him across the arena. "Well, now you don't." He said simply. "So how 'bout it, gramps? You and me in an epic battle to the death?"

Lau sighed. "You asked for it."

"**WOLFGANG KRAUSER!" (FF) **

Krauser found it unusual that his half-brother, Geese Howard, was hanging around Bison. The last Krauser heard, neither of the two got along very well.

To a mixed reaction, the purple-haired noble walked proudly down to the arena and leapt in.

Juan suddenly landed by his feet. Krauser helped the young man to his feet. "Are you beingk okay?" Krauser asked. "Zhat vas a nasty fall."

"Yeah, the big turtle just caught me off guard." Juan muttered.

"Vell, since you are beingk heere, how about a spar?" Krauser asked.

"Eh, might as well." Juan shrugged.

"**SIE KENSOU!" (KOF) **

"_I don't care what it takes!" _

"_I don't care who it shakes!" _

"_I don't care what they say!" _

"_I'm gonna do it your way!"_

Coming out to 'I Don't Care' by Plus One, Kensou came onto the ramp with a meat bun in his hand. Bobbing his head a couple of times to the rock music, Kensou shoved the meat bun into his mouth, chewed a couple of times and swallowed it.

"_Even if I'm afraid!" _

"_Don't wanna make you look fake!" _

"_I don't care about anything!" _

"_It's not about me!"_

Once he entered, Kensou looked around. He quickly fired a Psycho Ball at the fight Blanka was having with Mukuro, knocking the green-skinned beast away.

This left Mukuro in Kensou's line of sight. The young Psycho Soldier rushed forward and kicked the zombie in the jaw.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Chung sighed as he walked into the Eliminated Seating, found a spot with the others and sat down.

"Well, there's only two left." Gordon sighed. "Rosa and Gozu. And I highly doubt either of them will last very long."

"You doubt Rosa's skills?" Max Eagle asked.

"No. It's just that I'm trying to think realistically here." The overweight cop reasoned. "I mean, there are still a number of really skilled people that haven't even entered the arena yet."

"Yeah, you may be right." Chung admitted.

Meanwhile, the security had finally managed to calm down Jin and Kazuya. The father and son sat down in a huff, watching Heihachi fight Wario.

"That old geezer is SO going down." Jin muttered. "After everything he did to me, I'll make sure to take him down when this is over."

"You think YOU had it bad?" Kazuya asked. "He threw me off a freaking cliff when I was a kid and threw me into a freaking volcano years later!"

"Man. Some father."

"Yeah. Tell me about it." Kazuya muttered. He suddenly realized something, then turned to Jin. "Did we just go about ten seconds without wanting to kill each other?"

Jin was silent, his eyes widened. "Yeah. I guess we did."

"Well, I guess that's ONE thing we have in common, then."

"Yeah. We both hate Heihachi."

For the first time ever, Kazuya and Jin laughed together.

J. Carn, in the meantime, arrived at the Eliminated Seating as well. He was about to make his way down to the ring when he tripped on something. Letting out an awkward shout, J. Carn tumbled all the way down the steps and crashed into the railing headfirst.

The Mongolian quickly looked at where he had tripped and saw Q silently sitting in the corner of the Eliminated Seating, one of his feet sticking out. The mysterious man looked around casually as if he didn't know what he had just done.

J. Carn grumbled as he stood up, found a seat and sat down.

**(The Arena) **

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**NINETEEN**!"

"**ROLL!" (Mega Man) **

Standing outside the curtain, Roll gulped and ran down to the arena nervously. Holding onto the 'Roll Buster' she had been given, the only thing going through the girl robot's mind was {I should have gotten Megaman to come instead.}

Once the nervous robot girl landed in the ring, she looked around. Taking aim, she blasted the scariest-looking fighter with a charged Roll Buster.

Unfortunately for her, that was Mukuro. Said zombie looked at her for a few seconds, then charged.

Roll screamed and took aim again.

"**ROSA!" (KE) **

The dark-haired swordswoman came out from behind the curtain to a mixed reaction. Yes, she was one of the most popular fighters in her game, but because it was Kizuna Encounter, that wasn't really saying much.

Once Rosa was in the arena, she went for Blanka. Said green beast saw her coming and, knowing what she wanted, rolled at her, starting a fight.

Rosa dodged to the side and avoided Blanka. "Man. He sure doesn't waste any time." She mused.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**TWENTY**!"

"**AXL!" (Mega Man X7) **

Axl whistled and twirled one of his blasters in his hand as he walked down to the ring to a loud fangirl cheer.

"Time to show X and Zero how it's done." Axl chuckled as he jumped into the arena.

The first thing Axl did was fire several shots around the arena, striking several of the fighters. He got the attention of most, but one person in particular.

"You know?" Heihachi asked, stepping up. "I would teach you some respect if you would have been more skilled."

Axl smirked and activated a device on his wrist. One electric explosion later and Heihachi was staring at Axl, or rather Axl transformed into a complete duplicate of Heihachi himself.

The old man smirked. "Oh, this is going to be GOOD."

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**TWENTY-ONE**!"

"**MICKEY ROGERS!" (Art of Fighting 2) **

The young-looking, black boxer came out from behind the curtain and let out a loud cheer of excitement. After being out of the spotlight for so many years, he was finally invited to come back and fight.

"And to think I only came here to watch." Mickey said as he jumped into the arena.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

Unknown1 watched as Mickey started attacking Wario (which was a very stupid mistake), then looked at SSBFreak. "And you brought this guy in…WHY?"

"I was running out of ideas, okay?" SSBFreak replied.

**(The Arena) **

"And now, the final fighter of this section…"

"**ZEUS!" (WH) **

The huge man came out from behind the curtain, showing everyone that he was the largest World Hero of the bunch, towering over even Ryofu.

Once Zeus got to the ring, he looked around for people to fight. Eventually spotting the fight between Leona and Captain Falcon, Zeus walked over. Once he arrived, Zeus kicked both fighters at the same time, knocking them both down.

"What was that for?" Falcon asked.

"I need a fight, and I think you two will suffice." Zeus explained, looking back and forth between the two.

Leona growled and got into her stance. "You must have a death wish."

Zeus smirked. "Maybe I do."


	39. Section Eighteen Results

**(The Arena) **

Mickey Rogers repeatedly threw punches into Wario's stomach, but they all did no damage, bouncing right off (much like Raiden early in the tournament). Mickey panted as he held up his fists and continued the onslaught of futile attacks.

Wario laughed and slapped himself in the stomach. "What're you trying to do? Tickle me?"

Mickey growled. He didn't want his big comeback to end up like this. Every time he threw a punch at this guy, it would just bounce right back. And the worst part? Wario wasn't even attacking. "Come on, fat guy! Why don't you start fighting?" He asked. "It makes for a better fight if you actually throw a punch!"

Wario shrugged. "You asked for it."

With that, Wario grabbed Mickey, lifted him into the air and spun him around several times. The crowd roared in approval as Wario threw the boxer across the ring.

Mickey landed on his stomach and got to his feet. "Lucky shot." He muttered.

Wolfgang Krauser swung his fist at Juan, but the blonde man again blocked the punch with one hand. Juan yawned, then thrust his free fist into Krauser's stomach. However, Krauser was so big that the punch didn't send him flying back very far.

"Very impressive." Krauser commented. "Never haff I seen such power at a young age. But don't you ever theenk of vhat power you could possess eef you deedn't sleep all of zee time?"

"Eh, not really." Juan said plainly and he stretched, the reed of grass still in his mouth. "I can afford to sleep because of my massive combo links."

Although this confused Krauser a bit, the purple-haired noble didn't bother to press the matter any further than he had. "Vell, shall ve continue?"

Juan gave a lazy shrug. "Might as well, I guess." He said.

As the two approached each other, Roll ran in between them, screaming and firing her Roll Buster behind her. Mukuro was chasing after her, both of his weapons prepared to take the robot girl's head off.

"Stay away from me!" Roll screamed, shooting a fully-charged blast straight into Mukuro's forehead. Although it didn't really hurt Mukuro because he was already dead, he recoiled a bit and this allowed Roll to slink off and catch her breath.

Once she had caught her breath, Roll quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a small box. Attaching it to her arm cannon, Roll waited. She knew that Mukuro would be able to smell fear (even though she was a robot) and would pounce on her in a split second.

That's exactly what happened. Mukuro jumped over half the arena and swung his swords down, preparing to land on Roll and cut her in half.

Roll shot a pod from her arm cannon, which quickly turned into a tornado. The twister launched Mukuro into the air, and while he was, Roll removed the attachment from her weapon and blasted the airborne Mukuro with another Roll Buster before taking off again.

**(Dr. Light's Lab) **

"I'm not sure how I feel about this, doc." Megaman said as he watched his sister fight on the TV.

"What do you mean, Megaman?" Dr. Light asked.

"Allowing Roll to accept the invitation to this tournament." Megaman replied.

"You're just jealous that she got an invitation and you didn't." Protoman said with a sly smirk.

Megaman turned to face his brother. "No! It's just that Roll wasn't built for combat!" He explained. "She's a house-cleaning robot! Taking on all these people is going to be too much for her!"

"Megaman the main reason I allowed her to go was because she's always WANTED to be a combat robot like you two." Dr. Light explained. "Hopefully, this will erase those thoughts and she'll be happy with what she's doing now."

Megaman sighed. "I still don't like it."

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Mewtwo entered the Eliminated Seating and scanned it. Quickly spotting Ness, the psychic Pokemon floated down to the seat beside the young boy and sat down.

"Sorry, but I couldn't find anything out." Mewtwo explained. "What did you find out?"

"There's a plot going on and a bunch of villains are a part of it." Ness replied.

"So should we do something about it?"

"No. I also found out that there's a fairly large group going against these villains." Ness replied. "They're doing well thus far, so I don't think we should interfere."

"What are you guys talking about?" A new voice asked. Mewtwo and Ness turned to see Luigi looking at them.

"Oh, nothing." Ness shrugged. "I just found out something while I was in the arena, but I was eliminated before Mewtwo entered."

Mewtwo nodded. "That meant that Ness couldn't tell me what he found out until I was eliminated."

Luigi raised an eyebrow. "But…Don't you guys have some sort of psychic mind link? Couldn't you guys have talked to each other while one of you was still in the ring?"

Ness and Mewtwo sat in silence, their eyes widened in realization. After a couple of seconds, Mewtwo stood up and started leaving the Eliminated Seating.

"Where're you going now, Mewtwo?" Luigi asked.

"I am going to go kill myself." Mewtwo said flatly as he left the seating.

**(Dome; Snack Bar) **

The first thing Blazeman realized when he appeared back at the Recovery Room was that he was hungry, having skipped dinner to train to fight. However, he definitely wasn't expecting the snack bar to be in ruins when he arrived.

Blazeman stepped over a broken table as he walked over to the counter. "Yeesh. What the heck happened here? Did a train go through here or something?"

The owner sighed. "No. Several fighters just had some brawls in here."

"Ouch. That can't be good for business." Blazeman observed. "It'll cost you a lot just to replace everything in here."

"Actually, no. That's the only good thing." The owner said. "The owner of this tournament said he'd pay for the damages since he sold more tickets than expected."

Blazeman nodded in understanding. "I'll just have a large fries."

**(The Arena) **

Leona jumped at Zeus and delivered a hard kick to the giant man's face. However, it did little to slow him down, as Zeus responded with a hard punch, sending Leona flying away. She didn't get eliminated though, but rather landed about twenty feet away.

Jumping to her feet, Leona rushed at Zeus again, kicking Mukuro aside as she did.

However, before Leona arrived at continued whacking Zeus, Captain Falcon intervened and landed a Falcon Dive to the giant man's face, sending him to the floor.

Stopping several feet away, Leona ripped off one of her earrings. "Falcon, I'd move if I were you!" She said before throwing her earring.

Falcon looked over his shoulder and saw the earring coming. Thinking quickly, Falcon ran out of the way as the earring landed on Zeus' stomach, where it exploded. This was enough to send the large man flying into the air.

"So what do we do?" Falcon asked as Zeus continued to hang in the air.

"I say we get him away from us so we can continue our fight that he so rudely interrupted." Leona suggested.

"You wanna do it or should I?" Falcon asked.

"You can if you want." Leona replied.

"Got it." Falcon finished as he walked over to right beside where Zeus was about to land. He clenched his fist and pulled it back. "Falcon…"

Zeus fell into Falcon's line of sight.

"…PUNCH!"

Because of Zeus' massive girth, the force from the punch didn't eliminate him, but instead sent the giant man sliding away several feet. By the time Zeus had finally come to a full and complete stop, he was pretty close to the ropes.

Zeus stood up and dusted himself off. "I have to admit, that last punch hurt." He said. "But I'm afraid that they'll need to do more than that to-"

That was all Zeus could get out when Yuri Sakazaki ran by, slamming him with her Cho Upper and sending him over the ropes. Yuri was gone as quickly as she came.

Zeus landed in Mortal Kombat, where he and Raiden started a fight to determine whom was the better fighter (guess whom lost).

Roll had backed into a turnbuckle, but wasn't letting up and continued to pelt the oncoming Mukuro with blaster shots. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he was shot, Mukuro wouldn't slow down, and didn't even lose the insane smirk.

"_How am I supposed to beat someone who's already dead?"_ Roll thought. _"It's almost like he's shrugging off everything I'm throwing at him!"_

Roll quickly flipped a switch and fired her arm cannon. Mukuro winced and prepared to taste another mouthful of a Roll Buster.

Feeling nothing, Mukruo looked down at Roll and saw that a small, metal ball had been deposited on the canvas just into front of the robot girl.

Raising a non-existent eyebrow, Mukuro scratched his head. "What's that do?" He asked.

Roll didn't reply. She simply gave the ball a hard kick, sending it squarely into Mukuro's forehead. As Mukuro stepped back slightly, Roll rushed around him and kicked him in the back of the leg, bringing the zombie to his knees.

Acting on instinct, Mukuro blindly swung behind him where Roll hopefully was. Roll was there, and she got attacked, knocking her away. Luckily, it was the dull and flat side of Mukuro's weapon that struck her in the side, so it didn't give her any cuts.

However, it DID hurt. Roll landed on her side and rolled for a few feet before stopping. Once she stopped, Roll slowly got to her feet and watched as Mukuro did the same, slinking over to her again.

"You think you can pull another fast one on me?" Mukuro asked with a smirk.

*BLAM!*

After taking the surprise Roll Buster to the face, Mukuro was sent recoiling.

"Fast enough for you?" Roll asked with a smirk of her own, starting to feel a little better now.

"Quite." Mukuro replied. "You can stop now."

"And let you cut my circuits in half?" Roll shouted. "No way!"

Roll rushed at Mukuro and landed a hard kick to his face, knocking him back. As Mukuro tried to recover, Roll advanced on him and whipped out a flower bouquet, tossing it at the zombie and taking off again.

Mukuro caught the bouquet and stared at it strangely. "What the-"

One exploding bouquet later and Mukuro was falling past the ropes, unable to save himself from elimination.

Mukuro landed in Unreal Championship. The people started shooting him like they did with the others, but because Mukuro was already dead, nothing would affect him.

Krauser swung his fist at Juan again, but the blonde youth leaned to the side and easily avoided the blow.

"You haff been avoidingk most of my attacks." Krauser commented as he kicked at Juan. "I am beingk most eempressed."

"Eh, it's not that tough." Juan shrugged as he blocked Krauser's kick. "Fighting against a big fellow like you usually means that your attacks are powerful, but slow at the same time."

"You seem to know a lot about fightingk."

"Hey, I run a Bujitsu Center." Juan replied. "It's my job to know these things no matter how lazy I am."

Krauser continued to attack. He lashed out one fist, and once Juan caught it, the purple-haired man lashed out his other fist. Because Juan was in the middle of blocking the previous punch, the second one drove into his stomach, slightly knocking the wind out of him.

Juan gave a light cough and stood straight again. "That was pretty smart. I didn't see that one coming."

"Thank you. Now, ve must feeneesh our fight and determeene zee veener."

"Sure. Why not?"

Juan rushed at Krauser and landed three hard palm strikes to the larger man's chest, making him step back a couple of steps. Juan continued to advance, pushing Krauser back towards the ropes.

However, unlike those that fell in a similar manner, Krauser found an opening. As Juan was recovering from a powerful strike he had just done, Krauser drove his knee into the younger man's face, sending Juan flying backwards several feet until landing on his back.

Juan slowly stood up. His hair was messed up, his outfit had a couple of tears and the reed in the mouth was long gone. "Okay. Let's settle this." He said.

Krauser nodded, but stayed still as Juan rushed again. Juan swung his fist, but Krauser surprised him by catching the fist in his huge palm. Juan was then easy pickings for Krauser to pick up and toss across the arena.

Had Krauser been thinking, he would have thought to throw Juan over the ropes, but he didn't. Instead of falling past the ropes, Juan landed on Wario.

"Hey! Who do you think you are, buster?" Wario asked as he pushed Juan off of him. "You think you can just LAND on me?"

Juan didn't get a chance to respond. Wario had already booted him out of the arena.

Juan landed on top of a walking Stegosaurus' back in Joe and Mac 2. Finding the ride relaxing, Juan lay down and fell asleep as Joe and Mac continued to whack vicious cavemen with clubs.

Seeing Wario eliminate Juan, Krauser realized his mistake and slapped himself in the forehead. Deciding to forget that he had just passed up an elimination, Krauser turned and strode towards the fight Lau Chan was having with Bowser, hoping to eliminate one of them.

Lau dodged a claw swipe from Bowser and noticed Krauser coming over. "I believe that man over there seems intent on stopping our fight."

Bowser turned, half-expecting it to be a trick. However, when he indeed saw Krauser walking over, he smirked and cracked his knuckles. "I'll be right back."

"By all means. Go ahead."

Bowser walked forward, towards the oncoming Krauser. Once the two came close to each other, they stopped, showing each other (and everyone else watching) that they were the same height standing straight. Both purple-haired noble and overgrown turtle stared each other down, neither one of them making a move.

All of a sudden, Bowser acted, thrusting his head forward. Krauser saw the attack coming and held up his hands, grabbing hold of Bowser's horns before they could slam into his head. The two struggled like this for a couple of seconds, but Krauser got the upper hand and pushed the Koopa king away from him.

Bowser stumbled backwards, but regained his footing after a couple of steps. "Heh. The only one that I know that can block that attack is DK." He mused. "And even he can't counter it that quickly."

"I shall be takingk zhat as a compliment." Krauser said, still in his stance, ready for anything Bowser could unleash.

However, Krauser wasn't expecting Bowser to breathe fire at him.

As the fire spewed from Bowser's mouth, Krauser rolled to the side. The purple-haired man quickly got to his feet and rushed at Bowser. However, Bowser stopped breathing fire and grabbed Krauser before he could attack. With one hand, Bowser threw Krauser from the ring, then went back over to resume his fight with Lau.

Krauser landed in Loonatics: Unleashed, where he helped Tech E. Coyote take down Mastermind while she wasn't looking.

**(Hotel; Birdie's Room) **

Needless to say, Birdie was getting pummeled.

Had it been under any other circumstances, Birdie may have stood a chance. However, because his son was at stake, J. Maxx was like a furious bull in a china shop, and was hitting Birdie with every attack he knew.

Birdie held up his hands to block a flying tackle from the furious football player, and quickly attacked J. Maxx with a head-butt.

Considering that J. Maxx was wearing a helmet, that wasn't very bright. All Birdie ended up doing was give himself a severe headache.

"Start picking up the pace, you scum!" J. Maxx ordered. "You're hardly putting up a fight!"

"Okay! You're asking for it, then!" Birdie said as he pulled out a knife and swung it. J. Maxx easily avoided the swing and landed a hard kick to the black thug's face, knocking Birdie back a bit.

Ryu was busy in his own battle, fighting off two foes at ones. Actually, in all honesty, Sigma was really the only one giving him a challenge due to his size. Gen-An was proving to be more of an annoyance than a challenge.

The young warrior lashed out his hands, launching a fireball at Sigma. The huge robot swatted the projectile away easily and advanced on Ryu with a sliding kick. Ryu quickly jumped into the air and sent an airborne fireball into Sigma's face, sending him to his back.

While the large robot was on the ground, Ryu jumped onto him and repeatedly kicked him in the face (swatting Gen-An away at the same time). However, Sigma was quick to recover and pushed Ryu off of him.

"I have to admit that your fireballs are pretty powerful." Sigma said. "But prepare to take a look at what I can do!"

With that, Sigma stepped forward a half a step and shoved his chest out. Suddenly, much to Ryu's surprise, a huge beam of energy fired from Sigma's chest and soared straight towards him. Ryu rolled out of the way, the Sigma's beam accidentally struck Gen-An, plastering him against the far wall and knocking him out.

"Meh. No big loss." Sigma mused before Ryu landed an uppercut to his chin.

Asuka Kazama jumped back as Sabretooth slashed at her. The furred mutant roared and attacked again. Asuka gracefully avoided the blow and landed her fist against the side of his head, knocking him away.

Sabretooth fell back, but was quick to get back into a fighting stance. "Stand still, ya punk!" He roared and charged again.

"I don't think so!" Asuka replied as she jumped, allowing Sabretooth to charge underneath her. Asuka quickly slammed both of her feet into the back of Sabretooth's head, sending him staggering forward.

Sabretooth wasn't one to give up easily, even after his defeat at the hands of Billy Kane earlier in the night. Even still, things weren't looking up for the mutant.

"_I can't believe I'm thinking this right now, but I think I'd actually prefer to encounter Logan rather than fight against these guys."_ Sabretooth thought as Asuka kicked him in the chest.

Deciding to try again, Sabretooth rushed Asuka. This time, he got lucky and slashed her shoulder with his claws. Asuka cried out in pain and gripped her shoulder, backing away. Sabretooth, seeing his chance, advanced on her again.

However, while she was still holding onto her shoulder, Asuka leapt into the air and kicked the oncoming Sabretooth in the chin, knocking him back. Asuka landed on her feet and rushed at her opponent.

J. Maxx roughly grabbed Birdie by the vest he was wearing and repeatedly slammed his helmet into the thug's forehead in pure anger.

"Come on, dad!" Junior shouted from the chair in the middle of the room. "Just a little more! Pound him into a pulp!"

Now normally, J. Maxx wasn't too keen on influencing his son to think such violent thoughts, but at the moment, he was all too happy to oblige. The furious football star slammed his head into Birdie's one last time and let go of him, making the thug step backwards.

Birdie stood in silence before blacking out on his feet, toppling over to the ground. J. Maxx stood over him, breathing heavily and his eyes narrowed from behind his mask.

Looking around the room, J. Maxx saw that Ryu had just knocked Sigma out with his patented Hurricane Kick, and Asuka had thrown Sabretooth over her shoulder, sending him crashing into a table, where he became unconscious. Watari had long ago finished his short fight against Ripper and Hopper and sat on a chair to regain some of his energy as the two thugs lay on the ground, knocked out. Falco was gone from the room entirely, probably having chased Yamazaki down.

Deciding not to wonder where the avian had gone, J. Maxx rushed over to his son and quickly untied him. The football star wrapped his arms around his son, crying tears of happiness and thanking God that his son hadn't been hurt.

As the emotional reunion between father and son continued, Ryu, Asuka and Watari gathered around them.

"Well, that's one of the kids saved." Ryu said.

"I sure hope that the others will have it just as easy as we did." Asuka added.

"I doubt that. It doesn't get much easier than our fights." Watari muttered.

**(The Arena) **

Axl, still transformed into Heihachi, struck the real one with a palm, knocking the old man away from him.

In spite of this, Heihachi chuckled as he got to his feet. "Absolutely amazing. He has even copied my strength." He mused. "Oh, I am going to have a fantastic time fighting him."

Never in Heihachi's old life had he come upon such a great challenge (mainly because he was technically fighting himself). The old man stood straight, cracked his knuckles and charged again. Axl, in Heihachi's form, advanced at the same time.

The two each thrust a fist out, but Heihachi was quicker, landing a hard hit to Axl's face. This sent the Maverick Hunter flying backwards, the force from Heihachi's attack deactivating the transformation, turning Axl back into his normal form.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"Finally." Unknown1 sighed in relief. "I was having a heck of a time trying to determine which was which."

**(The Arena) **

Seeing that his form had been changed, Axl drew his pistols. "Okay. Let's settle this another way." He said, smirking.

"Young fool and your guns." Heihachi replied. "An explosion couldn't kill me. What makes you think those pea-shooters can do any better?"

One of Axl's guns promptly ricocheted off of Heihachi's forehead.

Axl ran at Heihachi, grabbed his discarded gun and landed a hard kick to the old man's chest, knocking him backwards. Axl tried kicking again, but Heihachi was quick to recover and grabbed his opponent's foot, throwing him away.

This wasn't enough to slow Axl down, though. Axl jumped back up and rushed at Heihachi. Heihachi, expecting another kick to the chest, swung his fist in an uppercut.

However, that wasn't hat Axl was planning. The Maverick Hunter swerved around Heihachi's fist and leapt at Heihachi in a flying kick, kicking the old man in the face and sending him tumbling over the ropes.

Heihachi landed in F-Zero GX. Like Hugo back in Section One, it was in the middle of a race. However, Heihachi saw the leading car (Bio Rex's) coming at him and swung his fist, striking the front of the F-Zero machine, stopping Bio Rex and starting a thirty-car pileup.

Bowser dodged a palm strike from Lau Chan, then slashed the older man in the chest two times. Lau quickly recovered and kicked Bowser in the face.

However, it did little more than make him flinch. Bowser laughed and backhanded Lau ten feet away with one swing. "Face it, gramps! You're way out of your league!" He taunted. "You're far too old to be fighting someone my size and strength!"

"To be fair, you're not that much bigger than Wolf or Jeffry, and yet I'm able to defeat them fairly regularly." Lau countered.

"But those nodal companions of yours are both humans." Bowser retaliated. "I bet you haven't faced a monster like me before."

"I should introduce you to Goh Hinogami sometime." Lau replied with a smirk.

The two advanced on each other again. Bowser tried attacking Lau with his claws again, but the aging fighter was quick to avoid them and land three strong punches to the overgrown lizard's chest.

The sheer power from Lau's punches not only hurt Bowser, but sent him reeling for a couple of seconds. The Koopa king was quick to recover and glared daggers at his opponent. "Okay, so I underestimated you." He said. "Big deal. It's not like I haven't been thrown around before."

"Mainly by those two plumbers, I take it." Lau said simply, although he had a sly smirk at the time. "You seem to face defeat at every turn."

Bowser's eyes widened, then narrowed again. "Okay, I'm gonna kill you for that one, alright?"

With that, Bowser lumbered at Lau, whom closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. Bowser got close to Lau and prepared to slash him in half with his claws.

Lau's eyes opened.

Almost instantly, a fist was driven into Bowser's chest, sending the huge turtle flying across the arena, eventually soaring straight out of the arena. The audience watched in awe at Lau's display of raw power.

Bowser landed in Rampage: Total Destruction. He grabbed Kyle the Cyclops and pounded him into the ground. George and Ralph had to gang up on Bowser to take the Koopa down, and even that took up most of Bowser's ten minutes in the node.

Mickey Rogers slowly stood up after Sie Kenou had thrown him across the arena.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Mickey said as he looked around the ring. "If I'm to survive, maybe I should go for what looks like an easy elimination."

Setting his sights in the catgirl Roomi, Mickey smirked and walked over.

Roomi, on the other hand, was in a fight with Blanka. The green-skinned beast-man rolled at Roomi, but the young-looking fighter gracefully leaped to the side and allowed Blanka to soar straight into a turnbuckle, making him dizzy.

Seeing that her opponent was down, Roomi stretched and yawned, deciding to wait for Blanka to recover rather than go over and throw him out of the arena.

However, Mickey chose that time to come in, swinging his fist from behind. Roomi's cat-like instincts kicked in and she threw herself to the canvas, then kicked behind her, avoiding Mickey's punch and striking his stomach at the same time.

As Mickey clutched his stomach, Roomi jumped to her feet. "Nya! I don't like people attacking from behind, you know." She scolded.

Mickey wasn't given the chance to respond. Roomi shoved her fluffy fist into the boxer's face, knocking him back. "So why did ya try to do that?" Roomi asked.

"Hey! I'm just looking for an easy elimination!" Mickey blurted out before realizing what he had just said.

Roomi stared at Mickey in silence, her eyes narrowing. "So ya think I'm gonna go down easily?" She asked. "Nya! I think not!"

Mickey swung his fist again, but Roomi was quick to avoid the blow and kicked Mickey in the stomach again, forcing the black boxer towards the ropes.

Poor Mickey tried blocking Roomi's next move, but Roomi had chosen that time to grab him, and everyone knows that blocking doesn't do much against a grab. Room tossed Mickey out of the ring, then turned as a recovered Blanka ran at her to continue their fight.

Mickey landed in a void of blackness. The black boxer stood up and looked around.

"Where the heck am I?" Mickey asked.

Suddenly, a smiling banana appeared out of nowhere and started doing a weird dance.

"It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time! Peanut Butter Jelly Time!" A voice started singing. "Peanut Butter Jelly Time! Peanut Butter Jelly Time!"

**(Announcer's Booth) **

The two announcers stared at the screen, slack-jawed.

"I don't care if the thing is a random-node generator." SSBFreak said. "I don't want anyone else landing there."

"I couldn't agree more."

**(The Arena) **

Gaira's beads whacked Billy in the chin, sending him flying back a couple of feet. Billy landed on his back, but was quick to get to his feet. The Biritish fighter then ran at the giant monk, jumped and kicked him in the head. Gaira stepped back half a step, but was quick to punch Billy in the face.

Billy recoiled and sprang back, swinging his staff. Gaira easily stepped over the attack and swung his beads again, smashing them over the blonde man's head.

Billy slowly got to his feet and ran his hand through his blonde hair (his bandana had been knocked off long ago). "Who in the right mind uses BEADS as weapons?" He asked.

"Uh…Me?" Gaira replied simply.

"Why did I have a feeling you were gonna say that?" Billy asked. "Look, no offense, but I just need to finish this fight so I can get back to getting some info out of that Mukuro guy."

Gaira paused and looked around. "Uh…I don't think he's here anymore."

Billy snapped to attention. "What?"

"I don't see him in the arena." Gaira replied. "Someone must have eliminated him."

Billy roared in anger and charged at Gaira again, seeing that this monk had just ruined his chance to get info out of Mukuro by stepping in to fight.

"Man. You've got a serious temper." Gaira said as he stepped to the side, allowing Billy to dart past him.

Seeing that he wasn't running at Gaira anymore, Billy did an instant about-face, planted his staff into the ground and pole-vaulted at the huge monk, kicking him in the back of his head, making Gaira stagger forward.

Letting out another roar of anger, Billy jumped in the air and lifted his staff above his head.

Gaira turned and saw Billy swinging what looked like a dozen staffs down at him.

Billy's super move did more than allow him to vent his anger. Gaira was sent out of the arena with no hope of return.

Billy landed on his feet and took a couple of breaths before Yuri Sakazaki, looking for a fight, jumped him.

Gaira landed in Metal Gear Solid. The soldiers nearby suddenly became alerted, as large !'s appeared over each of their heads. Solid Snake came in from another directed and shot them all.

Lau was in the process of trying to regain his energy after his fierce battle with Bowser. The aging man was sitting in the middle of the arena as carnage erupted all around him, slowly regaining any lost strength.

Suddenly, Lau was lifted off the ground, flying twenty feet into the air. Lau landed on his back and looked at whomever was responsible.

Roll blinked a couple of times, her arm cannon still aimed at Lau. She wasn't sure if using a Tornado Hold on him while he was resting was such a smart move.

"I have no quarrel with you." Lau said. "Please let me get back to my recovering."

"But we're in the middle of the section." Roll pointed out. "I thought that we weren't supposed to rest until the end of each section."

"So you seek a fight." Lau said as he got up. "Very well. I shall rest up after eliminating you."

Seeing Lau advance on her, Roll gulped and took aim again, firing a charged-up Roll Buster at him.

Lau was more aware than Mukuro, and he demonstrated this by swerving out of harm's way, grabbing Roll by her collar and tossing her at least ten feet away.

Roll landed on her stomach and slowly got up. She rushed at Lau again and managed to land a couple of quick attacks before the older fighter smashed his elbow into her stomach, launching her away again.

Once again, Roll got to her feet. Not being one to give up, Roll charged again. Lau tried attacking her with his palm, but Roll slipped by and gave him a hard kick to the stomach. As Lau bent over in pain, Roll blasted him in the face with another Roll Buster, making him fly back.

Lau landed on his back, but quickly sprang to his feet. Popping his neck a couple of times, Lau rushed at Roll. Roll, on the other hand, changed her weapon to the Rock Ball, dropping a steel orb at her feet and kicking it.

The old fighter saw the ball coming at him and quickly swatted it aside in the air. Roll, however, was prepared for this. While Lau was distracted, Roll had again changed her weapon, this time to the Tornado Hold.

Roll fired the miniature tornado, sending Lau into the air. Roll quickly took aim again and fired another Roll Buster, striking the airborne man and knocking him just past the ropes.

Lau landed in Super Dodge Ball. The Canada Foxes and Korea Bombers pelted him.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

A volley of laser bolts flew down the hallway as Falco Lombardi continued to chase Yamazaki down. Various people, including audience members, staff and even a few unlucky eliminated fighters had to press up against the wall to avoid getting trampled or shot (in Falco's case).

"Hold still!" Falco shouted as he fired another shot. After starting their fight earlier on, Yamazaki had broken into a run, resulting in a chase. Every time Falco had caught up to the gangster, it would result in a quick fight before Yamazaki would break into another run to another part of the dome or hotel.

Falco, deciding to stop the thug, put his gun away and focused all attention on his quick feet. Being one of the faster Smash Bros., Falco easily closed the gap between him and Yamazaki. While running, Falco crouched low and shot forward in a Falco Phantasm. The blue avian shot through the thug, stopping Yamazaki's run and sending him to the floor.

Slowly standing up (and still keeping one hand in his pocket), Yamazaki glared daggers at Falco. "You really want to become roasted, don't you, turkey?" Yamazaki asked. "I could shishkabob you without even trying."

"Then why do you insist on running from me if you really think you can beat me?" Falco asked.

Yamazaki, for the life of him, couldn't come up with an answer. So instead, he simply pulled his knife from his pocket and stalked straight at the blue bird. Yamazaki swung his knife at Falco, but the avian was quick to avoid the blade and drove his foot into the thug's stomach, making Yamazaki step back.

Falco took this chance and raced at Yamazaki, driving his fist into the psychotic thug's face, knocking him back even further.

Yamazaki quickly regained his senses and charged again, kicking at Falco's beak. Falco held up his feathered hands and caught Yamazaki's foot, then pushed him back. Yamazaki couldn't keep his balance and fell onto his back.

"_This isn't good."_ Yamazaki thought. _"There's no way I'll be able to win against a guy this fast."_

In spite of the situation, Yamazaki still got to his feet, although his mind was racing for an idea as he dodged a swing from Falco.

"Attention please." SSBFreak's voice came through the speakers. "Will Ryuji Yamazaki report to the Ready Room to enter the arena in the next section?"

Yamazaki smirked as he blocked Falco's next punch and stepped back. "Looks like I need to split."

"Not likely." Falco said, eyes narrowed. "You'll have to get through me first."

"_Looks like I'll need to create a distraction."_ Yamazaki thought.

"Look! A three-legged anteater!" Yamazaki shouted, pointing behind Falco.

"Huh?" Falco asked, turning around. When he turned back, Yamazaki was gone. "Why do I always fall for things like that?"

**(The Arena) **

Rosa swung her sword, slicing through Kensou's Psycho Ball and canceling the attack. However, Kensou was expecting this, and rushed at Rosa, kicking her in the face.

In all honesty, Rosa was amazed at how long she had stayed in the arena. The only one from her node to last even remotely close to her time was Max Eagle back in Section One.

Kensou wasn't giving her an easy time, though. Rosa had actually almost been eliminated twice since she entered, and both of those times she was thrown onto the ropes, but bounced back in. This meant that Kensou was starting to get frustrated, because he had almost made an elimination twice. The fact that he just couldn't seem to be able to defeat this woman was enough to aggravate him.

Rosa swung her sword again, managing to slice a bit of Kensou's jacket. Kensou, taken aback by the sudden attack, didn't notice Rosa's foot coming at his head until it was too late. As Kensou recoiled from Rosa's kick, the swordswoman advanced, taking a deep breath and preparing herself in case Kensou was going to trick her.

Seeing Rosa approaching him, Kensou was quick to get back into his fighting stance. "I have to do this for Athena!" He told himself. "I need to get an elimination and show everyone that the Psycho Soldiers mean business!"

"I'm afraid my node needs the elimination far more than yours does." Rosa said, having heard Kensou talking to himself.

Kensou launched another Psycho Ball at Rosa, but the swordswoman gracefully avoided the projectile, rushed up to Kensou and grabbed him.

Kensou could do nothing as Rosa pitched him over the ropes. Kensou was unable to teleport like Athena could, so he could do nothing as he fell through the vortex.

Kensou landed in the old game 'Athena', where he helped his 'other self' take down the final boss.

Back in the arena, Rosa jumped for joy. Up in the Eliminated Seating, everyone else from the Kizuna Encounter node (everyone but King Lion, Joker, Gozu and Mezu) was cheering loudly for their nodal companion, having scored the node's first elimination of the night.

"Folks, Rosa has finally done it!" SSBFreak announced. "With her elimination over Kensou, Kizuna Encounter now has an elimination!"

Rosa continued to celebrate, still amazed at what she had just done. The crowd was going nuts, the fights around her had stopped and all the lights in the arena were focused on her. Rosa,for once in her life, was the center of attention, and she couldn't believe how good everything felt. She felt like she could take anyone else in the arena on.

That is until Wario sneaked up from behind and pushed her out of the arena.

"Well, so much for that." Unknown1 said.

Rosa landed in Excitebike, where she made a game of dirt-biking VERY complicated.

Roomi and Blanka continued their fight without any interruptions (after all, people had seen what had happened to Mickey Rogers). Roomi jumped at Blanka and batted him in the head a couple of times with her paws. Blanks quickly recovered frm the weak attack and did a back-flip, kicking the catgirl in the face and sending her into the air.

As Roomi was in the air, Blanka walked underneath her and crouched low. Everyone started cheering, knowing what was coming next.

The instant Roomi had gotten close, Blanka let out a howl and created a field of electricity around him, shocking Roomi and sending her to the ground, some of her fur burned. In spite of the state she was in, Roomi jumped to her feet like nothing was wrong.

"Nya! That hurt, ya know!" Roomi scolded the green beast. "Maybe I should eliminate you for that!"

Blanka scratched his head. _"Isn't that what we're supposed to do?"_ He thought. He shrugged it off and rolled at Roomi again. This time, Blanka was successful and plowed the catgirl into the nearest turnbuckle.

After Blanka got off of her, Roomi slowly got to her feet, starting to tire out. Seeing Blanka standing in his stance, Roomi got into her stance as well. The two animal-like fighters lunged at each other, swinging paws and claws rapidly.

The fight broke apart and the two jumped back, landing about five feet away from each other. They were each sporting a few new scratches and bruises, but neither of the two were about to give up now.

Blanka was the first to act, rolling at Roomi again. Roomi was quick to come up with a plan, however, and leapt into the air landing on top of the rolling Blanka. She then started running on top of the rolling beast, sending him careening around the arena.

In a similar fashion that happened to the Duck King/Shabon incident that happened a while ago, Roomi rode the rolling Blanka around the arena. Unlike Shabon, however, Roomi was able to control where to send Blanka.

Deciding to end the fight, Roomi rolled Blanka over to the ropes (rolling over Wario and Roll at the same time). Once she arrived, Roomi jumped off, raced over to the ropes and pulled them up. The provided gap was more than enough for Blanka to fit under, as he rolled straight out of the arena.

Blanka landed in Adventure Island. He found a pineapple and started chowing down. Once Master Higgins showed up, he mistook Blanka for an enemy and started throwing stone axes at him.

He won't be making that mistake again.

There was only one elimination left that was needed to finish the section, and both Leona and Captain Falcon knew it. The two fighters were throwing everything they had at each other, trying to overcome the other and become the victor of the fight.

Leona pulled her hands back and swung them at Falcon, sending a sharp-looking energy cross at the racer/bounty hunter. Falcon, using his amazingly-fast feet, raced to the side and rushed at the blue-haired girl from a different angle, sending his fist into her face in another Raptor Boost.

This attack caught Leona off guard and sent her into the air. However, while she was still airborne, she turned herself over and lashed out her foot, nailing a bulls-eye at Falcon's forehead. Now it was Falcon's turn to recoil, stepping back and holding his head. As he did, Leona landed on her feet, ran at Falcon and kicked him in the stomach, knocking the hotshot racer backwards.

As Falcon got to his feet, Leona ripped off another explosive earring and threw it at Falcon. Falcon was able to snap to attention in time to see it coming, so he ran to safety as the earring landed on the canvas, exploding. Falcon raced at the surprised Leona and jumped at her.

"Falcon Kick!" Falcon announced in midair.

Falcon's foot, engulfed in flames, struck Leona in the face and sent her to the floor. While Leona was laying on the ground, Falcon landed on his feet and followed up with another Falcon Kick, this time going horizontally instead of diagonally. Once again, his foot hit Leona in the head, knocking her back further.

The hotshot racer/bounty hunter stood over Leona as she struggled to get up. "Look. Why don't you just give up now?" He asked as nicely as he could.

"Never." Leona spat.

"Have it your way." Falcon shrugged as he picked Leona up and threw her from the arena.

Leona spent the next ten minutes in the node of GI Joe, where she pounded Snake Eyes and Quint into the ground and sat down.

Back in the arena, Falcon sighed in relief, stood straight and brushed off his outfit. Turning around, he saw the other survivors of the section relaxing and resting. Roll fired an experimental Roll Buster out of the ring to make sure that it was still working. Yuri Sakazaki was sitting on the canvas, regaining her strength. Wario leaned against one of the turnbuckles, casually picking his nose. Axl, ready for just about anything, tossed one of his guns to himself, catching it each time. A bandana-less Billy Kane was leaning against his staff as he breathed heavily and Roomi stretched before getting ready for the next wave of fighters to appear.

The tournament was nearing completion as the next wave of fighters prepared to enter.

**RESULTS**

WARIO (WW)

ROLL (MM)

ROOMI (GF)

YURI SAKAZAKI (KOF)

CAPTAIN FALCON (SSB)

AXL (MMX7)

BILLY KANE (FF)

**(ELIMINATED)**

LAU CHAN (VF)

ROSA (KE)

BOWSER (SSB)

BLANKA (SFA3)

LEONA (KOF)

GAIRA CAFFIENE (SS)

SIE KENSOU (KOF)

HEIHACHI MISHIMA (T5)

JUAN (S3)

MICKEY ROGERS (AOF2)

WOLFGANG KRAUSER (FF)

MUKURO (LB)

ZEUS (WH)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Junior's Rescue" **

J. MAXX (WH) _**clobbers**_ BIRDIE (SFA3)

"**Clipped Wings" **

FALCO LOMBARDI (SSB) _**shoots down**_ RYUJI YAMAZAKI (FF)

"**Way of the Warrior" **

RYU (SFA3) _**pwns**_ GEN-AN (SS) and SIGMA (MMX)

"**Feral Fighter" **

ASUKA KAZAMA (T5) _**skins**_ SABRETOOTH (MC)

"**Why did Bison hire you guys?" **

WATARI (S3) _**eliminates**_ RIPPER and HOPPER (FF)

Eliminations: Wario, Roll and Roomi, 2; Yuri, Falcon, Axl, Billy, Lau, Rosa and Bowser, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: Billy Kane (8), R. Mika (8), King (7), Xigbar (6), Bruce Irvin (6), Chun-Li (5), Peach Toadstool (5)


	40. Section Nineteen

**(The Arena) **

The seven fighters left in the arena waited patiently for the next wave of fighters to arrive, but none of them were in any hurry due to the fact that they were starting to tire out and savored each second of rest before the next fighter would enter.

"**DURAAL!" (VF) **

The cybernetic boss of Virtua Fighter came out to a mixed reaction, but she paid it no mind. Duraal simply and silently walked down to the arena and stepped in.

"Hmm…" Axl mused. "That seems a little too human-like to be a cyborg." He smirked and drew his guns. "Maybe it's a Maverick. If that's the case, it needs to be destroyed."

With that, Axl advanced on Duraal, taking aim.

**(Battle Field) **

X and Zero were in the middle of a savage gunfight, hiding behind a barricade, when X suddenly paused in thought.

"What's up, X?" Zero asked.

"Why do I have the feeling that Axl's just done something incredibly stupid?" X asked aloud.

**(The Arena) **

"**ICE CLIMBERS!" (SSB) **

"You ready, Nana?" Popo (the blue-clad Eskimo) asked his sister.

"You bet, Popo!" Nana replied.

The two vertically-challenged Eskimos ran down to the ring as their theme played through the speakers. Once the two reached the end of the entrance ramp, they leapt in together and landed at the same time.

"Look, Popo! There's Falcon!" Nana pointed out.

"Hey, yeah! Let's go over to him!"

The two rushed over to their nodal companion's side, each letting out a cute 'Hi, Captain Falcon!', waving their hands.

Falcon turned and saw them coming over. "Uh…Hey, kids." He said.

"You wanna do some double-teaming, Falcon?" Popo asked.

"Well, I don't exactly have an opponent right now, so there's not really anyone to double-team." Falcon pointed out.

"Oh, that's okay!" Nana insisted. "We'll just stick around until someone challenges us!"

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**TWENTY-TWO**!"

"**ABUBO!" (Rage of the Dragons) **

The large thug came out to a mixed reaction (but mainly a series of boos) and walked down to the ring. Abubo was certainly a sight to behold, because his head looked way too small for the mountain of muscle he had.

Even still, Abubo had no problems with his strange stature as he jumped into the ring. His first action was to kick Wario in the face with both of his feet.

"What the heck was that for?" Wario asked, rubbing his face.

"I don't like to look at shrimps like you." Abubo said simply. "You're all weak compared to my raw power."

Wario lost Abubo as soon as he said 'shrimp'. "You're callin' me a shrimp? Oh, that DOES IT!" With that, Wario jumped at Abubo. "Put up your dukes, smart-aleck! Let's see if you have the power to back up that big mouth of yours!"

"**MUDMAN!" (WH) **

The last World Hero came out to a loud cheer (mainly due to his increased popularity from NGBC) and to tribal music coming from the speakers. Mudman danced down to the ring and jumped in.

Seeing him enter, Yuri went over to him (and stepping around the battle Axl was having with Duraal). "You're that mask-wearing freak Ryo told me about, aren't you?" She asked.

"If by 'mask-wearing freak' you mean 'highly-talented tribal chief', then yes, that would be me." Mudman nodded.

"Ryo told me that you had some skills." Yuri mused as she put up her fists. "Let's see if that's true."

"I assure you that you won't be disappointed." Mudman said.

**(Dome; Box 45) **

The arena boxes were crucial for Bison's plan, because he had to station one of the targets there. He rented the most soundproof box he could find at the beginning, knowing that it wouldn't come into play until later in the tournament.

"Why can't we watch the fight?" Toad asked/whined as he pointed at the blinds preventing anyone from seeing the arena. "I wanna see people get pummeled!"

"We're not allowed to open the blinds because then people would be able to see in." Vega replied simply. "And if people can see in, they'll see him." He finished with a jerk of the thumb towards Louis, the squire of Chris Lightfellow, whom was tied to a chair.

Louis had given up on calling for help long ago, because he knew that each box was soundproof. So instead, he looked around the box. As Toad kept complaining to Vega, King Lion sighed and tried his best to ignore the two. The brainwashed Roy was standing around, staring off into space. Other than that, there wasn't anyone else in the box. Bison had told King Lion that since it was a less-likely place to find someone, they didn't need as many people to guard the target.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Toad stopped complaining and walked over to it.

King Lion suddenly started having flashbacks of something that had happened earlier in the night and waved his arms in the air. "Don't do it, you fool!" He shouted.

Toad didn't listen and opened the door. He was met with a fist slamming into his face, knocking him away from the door. The door opened up all the way to show Jacky Bryant, Clark Steele and Lei Wulong (whose team had met up with them and split up earlier).

"What did I tell you?" King Lion shouted.

"We don't want a fight." Clark said. "We're simply here to save the boy."

"What makes you think we'd give him up so easily?" Toad asked.

"Because it would save us beating you guys into the ground." Jacky said.

"Then we'll fight you for him!" Vega shouted as he rushed at Clark. Roy mechanically sprang at Lei and Toad did the same with Jacky.

King Lion, seeing the fight break out, sighed. "I hate my life." He said as he walked in to held Toad with Jacky.

**(The Arena) **

"**GOZU!" (KE) **

Like Mudman was the last World Hero, Gozu was the last Kizuna Encounter member. However, the red-clad ninja wasn't greeted with as warm a reception as the tribal man was. Gozu ignored the jeers from the crowd and jumped into the arena.

Billy Kane instantly smashed his staff over his head.

Gozu jumped to his feet. "What did you do that for?" He asked. "That really hurt!"

"I'm looking for info!" Billy shouted. "I failed to get it from that undead mummy guy in the last section, but I think you'll do even better."

Gozu sighed. "First that 80's reject and now you. This just isn't my day."

"**JUGGERNAUT!" (MC) **

"_This seems too big for me" _

"_Hulking monstrosity" _

"_Too late to get out now" _

"_And like the speed of sound" _

"_This thing has brought me down" _

"_I don't remember how" _

"_I want to be free" _

"_But Juggernaut is killing me"_

Juggernaut came out from behind the curtain to a Five Iron Frenzy song (coincidentally called 'Juggernaut'). The crowd cheered him on as the hulking giant lumbered down to the arena and leapt in.

"_Freedom like a song!" _

"_The weak shall be made strong!" _

"_I may sink before I swim!" _

"_But I'm not giving in to you!" _

"_Juggernaut!"_

The huge mountain of muscle hit the canvas causing the entire arena to shake. Juggernaut looked around for a potential challenge and saw one in Abubo. Seeing him currently in a fight with Wario didn't seem to bother Juggernaut, as the giant man plowed straight into the yellow-clad plumber, sending him across the arena.

Abubo looked Juggernaut up and down and smirked. "Oh, yeah. Time for a challenge."

"**JACQUES!" (S3) **

The final member of Geddoe's team came out from behind the curtain, his gigantic crossbow latched onto his back. Jacques glanced up at the Sound Booth and saw Aila waving at him wildly, cheering him on. Jacques managed a rare smirk and continued down to the arena as hordes of fangirls shrieked wildly.

It didn't really bother Jacques that he was the only Suikoden fighter in the arena. He simply pulled out his crossbow, took aim and fired, sending an arrow at Roomi.

The catgirl saw the attack coming and leapt to the side. Roomi then rushed at Jacques, whom smirked.

"Well, at least this one is more aware of her surroundings than the others from her node." He mused to himself quietly.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**TWENTY-THREE**!"

"**TSUGUMI SENDO!" (Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition) **

Tsugumi, a young wrestler (yes, wrestler), came out to a mixed reaction. Those that cheered were because of her personality and unique style. Those that booed were because Tsugumi's lone appearance was in Wild Ambition. Those that remained silent do so because they were still trying to figure out whom she was.

The brown-haired girl paid no attention and focused on getting down to the ring. When she entered, Tsugumi ran over to Captain Falcon to start a fight.

However, Popo and Nana jumped in the way. "You wanna take on one of us, you gotta take on all of us!" Popo challenged.

"Yeah! United we stand!" Nana agreed.

"Can't I just fight him?" Tsugumi asked, pointing at Captain Falcon.

"Not unless you agree to fight us as well!" Popo said.

"Kids, look…Uh…" Falcon said.

"**RYUJI YAMAZAKI!" (FF) **

"…Why don't you two go fight him instead?" Falcon asked, pointing at the newcomer.

"Okay, Captain Falcon!" The Ice Climbers said as one and rushed off to cause mischief. Falcon and Tsugumi then started fighting.

With one hand in his pocket, Yamazaki strode down to the arena and stepped in. Looking around he smirked. "Well, now I can take my sweet time." He said. "After all, none of those punks can follow me in here. I can just fight casually and Bison will still pay me."

Suddenly, a pair of wooden mallets were driven into the Yakuza's forhead. Yamazaki stepped back and looked down at the two culprits.

"Put up your fists, mister!" Popo challenged. "My sis and I are gonna challenge you to a fight!"

Yamazaki chuckled. "Don't go crying on me if you die, kids." He said as he got into his stance.

**(Hotel; Arcade) **

Balrog considered himself extremely lucky. Because of everyone watching the arena, no one was coming into the Arcade. In fact, it had gotten so late that the staff had locked it up after Section Eight started up. Due to this, there were no punks coming in.

This was a good thing because the Arcade was the position for Mel Masters, and Balrog had the displeasure of watching him alone.

"Why do you keep doing this, Balrog?" Mel asked. "Whenever I see you, you always seem to be doing something illegal or working for Bison."

"He pays me big bucks, kid." Balrog explained. "As long as he keeps that paycheck coming, I'm sticking with him."

"Probably because you'll never get back into boxing." Mel muttered. "This is the only way to get money for you."

"Hey, I take it like it is, kid." Balrog said, not even bothering to look at Mel. "I can't go back to boxing because they just wouldn't allow my moves."

"Yeah, because they were so cheap and dirty!" Mel snapped.

"Shut up, punk!" Balrog shouted. "Why, if I were allowed to kill you, I'd-"

"Do absolutely nothing!"

Balrog and Mel looked in the direction of the voice and saw Cody standing at the door to the Arcade.

"But…How?" Balrog asked. "The door was locked!"

Cody whistled and showed Balrog a hairpin he had taken from Nei earlier. "Lockpicking. One of the skills I learned in prison."

Balrog growled as Cody advanced. "Well, it looks like you're out of luck, Metro City hero." He taunted. "There's only one of you, and I clearly out-power you."

Cody smirked. "That's what you think, buster." He said. "Now come on! Let's do this!"

"Get him good, Cody!" Mel cheered.

**(The Arena) **

"**SHIGEN NAOE!" (LB) **

The oversized man had to duck to get out from behind the curtain, but he got out eventually. Like Juggernaut, Shigen lumbered down to the ring, his hand constantly flashing a pale gray.

Once he was in the arena, Shigen made a beeline straight for Abubo and Juggernaut. However, before he could get far, Wario stepped in his way. "Okay, buster! I got tossed aside by that guy over there, but I think you'll do fine as a replacement opponent."

"You're too small." Shigen said, looking down at the portly plumber.

"Don't judge a book by its cover." Wario said. "I'm a lot stronger than oh, say Mario."

This made Shigen raise an eyebrow, having heard of how strong the legendary Mario was. "Very well. Let's see how you fight."

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**TWENTY-FOUR**!"

"**ABYSS!" (Marvel vs. Capcom 2) **

Roll blasted Gozu away with a Roll Buster when she heard the name being called. She slowly turned around and indeed saw the armoured monstrosity that was Abyss.

Roll screamed.

Abyss ignored the large amount of boos directed at it and instead walked down to the arena (at an incredibly slow pace that made Juggernaut look fast). Abyss stepped into the arena, walked over the Axl/Duraal fight and stopped at Roll's side, towering over her.

Roll shrieked again and hysterically fired Roll Busters at Abyss' torso. "GET HIM AWAY!" She screamed. "GET HIM AWAY!"

Everyone turned and saw that Abyss was in the arena. Wario, Billy, Tsugumi, Yamazaki, Yuri, the Ice Climbers, Roomi and Mudman and rushed in to help Roll with Abyss, Yamazaki mainly because he wanted to fight someone with strength and power such as Abyss.

"**E. HONDA!" (SFA3) **

Street Fighter's original sumo (and quite possible the first sumo in any fighting game) came out to a loud cheer. Honda laughed and waved to the crowd as he walked down to the ring and jumped in.

The first thing Honda did when he entered was deliver a head-butt to Shigen's stomach. Despite the power behind it, it did little more than make Shigen flinch.

Honda stood up and saw the power that Shigen possessed. "Amazing. Never before have I felt such power and fighting spirit! Have you ever considered a career in sumo?"

Shigen spiked Honda into the canvas.

"And now, the final fighter of this section…"

"**KASUMI TODOH!" (KOF) **

The blue-haired heir to the Todoh style came out to a decent-sized cheer and ran down to the arena, seeing her friend Yuri fighting off the huge machine with several others. Kasmui jumped in and wasted no time in running over to help her friend.

"Yuri!" Kasumi called out.

Yuri looked and saw Kasumi coming over. "Oh! Kasumi! You're just in time!" She said. "Help us out with this thing, will you?"

"How do we beat it?" Kasmui asked.

"I don't know, but we need to take this thing out before it kills somebody!"

"Right! Let's do this!"


	41. Section Nineteen Results

**(The Arena) **

Abyss stepped back as Roll fired a fully-charged blaster shot into its face. Ever since Abyss had stepped into the ring, almost no others had left the monster alone. The only ones that didn't seem to notice the boss yet were Axl and Duraal, whom were still fighting each other.

The metal monstrosity swung its fist at the robot girl, but Wario stepped in and was quick to catch the oncoming fist. The portly plumber smirked. "Okay. NOW things are gonna get interesting."

Everyone (aside from Axl and Duraal) watched in shock as Wario lifted Abyss (whom was at least ten times his size) into the air, spun it around a few times and hurled it across the arena, where it landed on its back.

"Come on!" Wario taunted as he walked over to Abyss. "I haven't even started yet! Let's go for round two!"

For the first time ever, Abyss was starting to reconsider its chances for survival against an opponent.

Seeing that Wario had things covered, the others had resumed their previous fights. Tsugumi Sendo swung her fist at Captain Falcon, but the F-Zero racer was just too quick and ducked under the wrestler's fist.

Seeing that her attack had missed its mark, Tsugumi tried to recover, but all she got was a Raptor Boost to the face, sending her flying backwards.

"No offense, kid." Falcon said. "But you're way out of your league coming here. Why not just back off now and save yourself the trouble?"

"Me? Back off?" Tsugumi asked as she jumped to her feet. "No way! I'll never give up!"

"Well, you've got spunk. I'll give you that." Falcon shrugged. "But let's just see how much of it you'll have after I beat you."

"Bring it! I'm ready for anything!" Tsugumi said as she rushed at Falcon and kicked him in the face.

On the other side of the arena, Jacques was finding out just how hard Juggernaut's armour was, because he had just fired several bolts from his crossbow at the hulking giant (and felt pretty stupid when they bounced right off).

"Well, this is just grand." Jacques sighed quietly. "My crossbow bolts don't affect him and I'm not a very good combat fighter."

Juggernaut saw the uneasy feeling in Jacques eyes and laughed. "Upset that your pea-shooter didn't work? It'll take more than that to take someone like me down!"

"I'm aware of that now." Jacques replied, although Juggernaut probably didn't hear it.

Juggernaut rushed at Jacques, but the blonde mercenary quickly rolled to the side and allowed the lumbering mutant to pass by. Jacques slowly stood to his feet, rapidly running ideas through his head about how to defeat his opponent.

**(Sound Booth) **

"Come on, Jacques!" Aila cheered, looking like she was oblivious to the fact that the Sound Booth was soundproof. "You can do it! Kick that big guy's butt!"

"Aila, what gives?" Shadow asked, raising an eyebrow. "You've been cheering for that guy ever since he entered the arena."

Aila suddenly realized that Shadow was right and blushed. "Uh…Oh, I'm just excited for him."

Astaroth chuckled. "With your constant cheering, I'm beginning to wonder if you like that guy."

"Uh…Well…Of COURSE I like him." Aila said. "I mean, he was the one to get me onto Geddoe's team in the first place. I consider him a friend more than most of the people from my village, as a matter of fact."

"Sop it, Aila." Shadow smirked. "You know what we mean."

Aila stood in silence for a couple of seconds and chuckled nervously. "Uh…You guys won't tell anyone, will you?"

"I'm not one for blabbing secrets, anyway." Shadow shrugged. "Don't worry."

"I won't tell anyone, either." Astaroth nodded. "But if it was anyone other than you, I don't think I would be so quick to agree."

Aila sighed in relief, knowing that her secret feelings for Jacques were safe. "Thanks, guys."

**(Announcer's Booth) **

Grabbing his clipboard from the desk again, SSBFreak stood up. "I'll be right back." He told his partner.

"Where're you going this time?" Unknown1 asked, somehow thinking he knew the answer.

"There's only eleven fighters left to enter, but we need thirteen to make the final twenty." SSBFreak explained. "I'm going to scan the audience for two more Mystery Fighters."

"How long do you intend to take?" Unknown1 asked.

"Not very long. I know exactly whom I'm looking for this time." SSBFreak assured.

"Just be sure that you get some people that actually have a chance in here." Unknown1 warned. "You've already sent Mickey Rogers and Abyss in there."

"Don't worry about it." SSBFreak said as he walked towards the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes, because I have an idea on where these two are sitting."

Unknown1 nodded and went back to watching Wario tossing Abyss around like a rag doll. "Okay. Just try to hurry, though. It's hard enough running this booth alone."

**(Eliminated Seating) **

"This is kinda familiar." Ryo sighed as he watched Yuri fight.

"What're you talking about?" Princess Peach asked.

"Oh, that's right. Your gang wasn't there." Ryo realized. "Well, back in the first UVR, Yuri was the only fighter that used our fighting style to get an elimination. Robert and I got tossed pretty quick, and father didn't last much longer either."

"Well, at least your sister is proving that your fighting style isn't horrible." Peach shrugged.

"I know, and I'm happy that she's done so well." Ryo insisted. "It's just that I've been down this path before and I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to do it again."

"I take it you've been training for this?"

"You have no idea." Ryo said.

**(The Arena) **

Gozu jumped back as Billy's staff smashed into the canvas where the red-clad ninja had just been standing. The bandana-less pole fighter kept on pressing the attack, stalking in Gozu's direction.

"You've been attacking me ever since I entered the arena!" Gozu shouted at Billy as the British fighter swung at him with one hand. "What gives?"

"I've been given too many chances to find out what's going on and I've lost every single one of them!" Billy shouted back. "I don't intend to lose this one, so confess!"

Gozu sighed. "Look, I haven't been having a very good day, okay? First Mezu and I lose to that 80's reject Kisaragi and he takes a piece of each of our gauntlets, then we lose to that crazy native girlfriend of his!"

This made Billy pause in wonder for a second. "Girlfriend? Since when did Eiji get a girl?" He asked, not knowing about Julia.

"And now you're attacking me like a crazed madman without giving me a chance to react!" Gozu continued. "Man! It almost makes me wish we never accepted Bison's offer to join him in his plan!"

Gozu instantly realized his mistake, but it was already too late.

Billy was on him again, roaring like a beast. "So you DO know what's going on! Oh, that's it! You're going DOWN, pal!"

Gozu tried to get out of the way, but Billy had already grabbed his throat. The extremely overprotective big brother of Lilly Kane then proceeded to repeatedly slam Gozu's face into the canvas. By about the sixth time, Gozu was struggling to stay conscious, and by the tenth time, the red-clad ninja was out like a light.

Unfortunately for Gozu, Billy didn't stop there. After about five more slams into the canvas, Billy released Gozu and then started whacking the unconscious body with his staff in a blind rage.

Finally feeling satisfied, Billy picked up Gozu and chucked him away. However, he had used up so much stamina whaling on the already-beaten ninja that Gozu didn't even go out of the arena. Instead, his prone body flew towards Roll.

Standing aside, Kasmui and Yuri sweatdropped before the former turned to the latter. "Is he ALWAYS like this when it comes to his sister?" Kasumi asked.

"Uh…Yeah, pretty much." Yuri nodded.

Seeing that Gozu was about to land on her, Roll shrieked and activated another Tornado Hold to get him away from her. The small tornado that followed sent Gozu flying into the air and sent him falling limply past the ropes, granting Roll the elimination due to the tornado.

Gozu's unconscious form landed in Snowboard Kids. Slash and Jam sped by and flattened him with a falling pan.

Abyss quickly found itself laying on its back again, a victim to another of Wario's throws. Abyss looked up and saw Wario standing on a turnbuckle.

Wario took a second to play to the crowd before leaping from the turnbuckle and landing elbow-first onto Abyss' midsection. "THIS is the final boss of Marvel vs. Capcom 2?" Wario asked with a laugh.

Juggernaut looked away from Jacques and lifted a finger into the air. "Actually, that's the first of thee forms. The third and final form is much more fierce than the one currently in the arena with us."

Everyone else stopped what they were doing and looked at Juggernaut with wide eyes and strange glares.

Juggernaut looked around. "What? Can't a big guy say something intelligent once in a while?" He asked. This made the others drop the matter and return to what they were doing.

Wario shrugged. "Eh, I'd probably still manage to beat this thing anyway." He said as he turned to face Abyss again, only to see that the metal monstrosity had risen to its feet again. Abyss towered over Wario and looked down at him menacingly.

The portly anti-hero laughed. "So you're back, eh? Okay. Show me what ya got. Amuse me."

Abyss silently raised its arm into the air. Roll and Juggernaut, the only ones in the ring whom had seen it fight before, promptly started blocking.

Lances of flaming energy rained down from above, striking everything and everyone in the arena. Roll and Juggernaut, because they were blocking, took the least amount of damage. A couple of others (Mudman and Tsugumi) managed to block the attack as well, but not before receiving a few minor injuries. Jacques, Yuri, Captain Falcon and Kasmui were able to avid most of the strikes, while everyone else was pelted.

This included Wario, whom was now sporting a very unattractive hole through his hat. Wario stuck his finger through the hole for a couple of seconds, then looked up at Abyss' towering form. "You burned a hole in my hat." He said flatly. "You burned a hole in my hat!"

**(Eliminated Seating) **

"Well, I guess we can say that THIS fight is over." Luigi said. Ness nodded.

**(The Arena) **

"YOU BURNED A FREAKING HOLE IN MY HAT!" Wario roared as he picked up Abyss again, threw it into the air and awaited it to come back down again.

Once Abyss got close enough, Wario kicked hard. The amazing force from Wario's kick sent Abyss flying out of the ring.

Abyss landed on the ice planet of Hoth in Star Wars, where it froze. Several Wampas came by and started taking Abyss apart.

Kasumi Todoh held up her hands and blocked as E. Honda flew into her head-first. Unfortunately for him, as soon as he stopped the head-butt, Kasmui dropped her guard and kicked the sumo wrestler in the face.

Honda stepped back, but shook off the attack and smirked. "Well, for someone that doesn't do sumo, you put up a good fight." He said. "Imagine how much better you'd fight if you actually took up sumo."

"Not interested." Kasumi said quickly. "It is up to me to keep the Todoh style alive, and I intend to do so."

"Very well. If that's how you feel." Honda shrugged and pressed the attack, kicking at Kasumi's face.

Kasumi saw the attack coming and caught Honda's foot, then spun it around, launching the older man into the air for a second before landing on his stomach. As Honda slowly stood up, Kasumi felt confident and ran forward.

Honda quickly responded with his famous 'Hundred-Hand Slap'. Honda's right palm shot out countless times, slapping the unprepared Kasumi in the face many times. After Honda finally stopped the onslaught, Kasumi stepped back, holding her head to keep the constant pounding in her ears down.

"Okay. I didn't want to do this, but I'm afraid you leave me no choice." Kasumi said as she brought her hands above her head and started gathering energy.

When she had gathered enough energy, Kasmui lashed her hands out, firing a wave of energy streaks at Honda. The sumo wrestler stepped back a foot and tried blocking. Then, much to his surprise, Kasumi's attack stopped just inches away from his face.

Honda uncovered his face. "That was it?"

"Uh…Yeah. That was it." Kasumi nodded.

Honda shook his head. "If that is honestly the best you can do, then I'm afraid you must abandon this fighting style of yours, because I don't believe you'll go anywhere with it."

Kasumi's eyes snapped open. "Excuse me?" She asked. "Me? Abandon my father's fighting style?" She rushed at Honda and started attacking him in a flurry of palm-strikes and kicks. "Never! The day I abandon my father's art is the day I die! And no overweight sumo wrestler is going to tell me otherwise!"

Forcing her opponent towards the ropes, Kasumi lashed out her hands again, launching a smaller version of her previous energy attack at Honda. However, the added energy from Kasumi's anger made the attack that much more powerful and sent Honda flying out of the ring.

Honda landed in Donkey Kong 64. Chunky Kong, now a huge King Kong size, stepped on him accidentally and continued of without noticing.

Yamazaki smirked and leaned to the side as Popo's hammer swung past him. He then kicked out, striking Nana in the face. However, it did little to slow the Ice Climbers down, because the little Eskimos were on Yamazaki again, hammers swinging wildly.

The Yakuza thug had to admit that these kids were pretty quick, but they still weren't able to match his own speed. Yamazaki showed this by swinging his fist upwards, catching Popo in the face and sending him flying away.

This, of course, left Nana to face the thug alone, but she still wasn't backing down. In fact, seeing her brother getting attacked simply fueled her anger. "Hey! That was my brother you just attacked! Oh, you're in for it, now!"

Yamazaki smirked and looked down at Nana. "And just what do you intend to do about it?"

Nana pulled her hammer up and spiked it straight into Yamazaki's foot, resulting in a loud roar of pain from the thug. Nana quickly swung her hammer into Yamazaki's stomach, knocking the wind out of the taller man.

Yamazai quickly regained his composure and stood straight again. By now, Popo had rejoined his sister. "Okay. So you kids are more talented than you look. But that still doesn't mean that you're going to-"

"Hey, you!"

The three fighters looked in the direction of the voice and saw Abubo coming over, his huge fists dragging on the ground behind him.

"What do you want, freak of nature?" Yamazaki asked.

"A fight! That's what!"

"Look, pal. I'm not in the mood to deal with you, because I honestly think these kids will put up a better fight than you." Yamazaki said, pointing at the Ice Climbers.

"Is he complimenting or insulting us?" Nana asked her brother.

"No idea." Popo shook his head.

"Are you saying that I have no skill?" Abubo asked.

"Yeah, I am." Yamazaki said. "You wanna do something about it?"

"I sure do!" With that, Abubo swung his huge fist at Yamazaki.

The thug easily caught Abubo's fist and threw the oversized man over his shoulder and out of the ring. Yamazaki turned back to the Ice Climbers. "Now. Where were we?"

Abubo landed on a city street. He got up and looked around, wondering where he was.

"Hey, Jimmy! There's that creepy thug guy!"

Abubo turned around and saw a younger Billy and Jimmy Lee (the Double Dragon 1 versions) standing a ways away from him.

"Man. He looks way uglier than I thought." Jimmy shook his head.

"Who cares? It's still the same guy!" Billy pointed out.

"Yeah. You're right." Jimmy nodded. "Let's trash this guy, and then we can continue on."

The Lee brothers advanced on a cowering Abubo, whom was crying 'Not again!'.

**(Dome; Box 45) **

Toad fell through a table, a victim to a kick from Jacky Bryant. The green-skinned mutant stood up and charged at Jacky again, kicking the Virtua Fighter in the back while he was fighting King Lion.

Although Toad's attack momentarily distracted him, Jacky was quick to recover. Quickly punching King Lion in the face to stun him, Jacky grabbed Toad and threw him into the boxing boss of Kizuna Encounter, sending them both to the ground.

Jacky took this time to crack his knuckles and wait for the two villains to get to their feet. "Is this really all you guys are capable of?" He asked. "Why the heck did Bison leave you in charge here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." King Lion sighed. "Look, can we please get this over with so I don't have to experience any more humiliations? My ego's deflated enough as it is."

"Sure thing, pops." Jacky said as he rushed the two again.

Toad was the first to act, leaping at Jacky and sticking his long tongue out. The tongue wrapped around Jacky's ankle, lifted him off his feet and sent him to the ground. King Lion took the opportunity and advanced, striking Jacky a couple of times while he was still on the ground.

Jacky quickly jumped to his feet, kicking both villains away at the same time. Rolling up the sleeves on his leather jacket, Jacky ran at King Lion and thrust out his fist.

Roy swung his sword at Lei Wulong, but the Hong Kong cop was quick to avoid the attack, rolling to the side.

This marked the second time in just a short while Lei had to fight Roy. However, Lei intended to win this time, because Roy was in a brainwashed state and the only way he could be freed was if he was knocked out. Because of this, Lei was having problems due to the fact that he didn't want to hurt Roy that much, yet Roy was still lashing out with all he had.

"Sorry about this." Lei said as he kicked Roy in the face, making him stagger back.

Roy shook his head, quickly shaking off the attack, and silently charged again with another swing of his sword. Lei jumped back, but received a slight cut to the chest for his troubles. Doing his best to ignore the pain, Lei advanced again and struck Roy with a couple of punches.

Thinking that he had had enough by now, Roy pulled his sword back and started glowing, which meant that he was charging up for his most powerful move.

However, he was taking so long to do so, that Lei casually walked up and kicked him in the face.

Vega rolled at his opponent, Clark Steele, and jabbed forward with his claw. The hit was a success, but all Vega managed to do was make three small tears in Clark's extra-durable vest. Clark prodded his vest with his finger a couple of times, then shrugged.

"Nothing a little trip to the tailor won't fix." Clark mused.

"If you live that long." Vega cackled as he swung his weapon again. Clark evaded the attack this time and punched the vain matador in the chest, sending him flying backwards.

Holding his chest, Vega got back into a standing position. "You'll pay for that one." He said, his eyes narrowing from behind his mask.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Clark said. "Look, there's been one thing I've been meaning to ask you."

"What is it?" Vega asked, annoyed.

"Where'd you get the mask?" Clark asked. "From what I saw on the monitors, that Ace guy from the Suikoden node split it in half."

"I have plenty of extras for just such an emergency." Vega replied.

Clark rolled his eyes from behind his shades. "You're worse than I thought."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing you would understand, I'm afraid." Clark sighed.

"For that alone, I shall run you through!" Vega roared and charged again, wondering why Clark wasn't moving. Once Vega got within arms reached, Clark grabbed him and tossed him into the air.

Jacky and King Lion continued to stare each other down. Toad had been knocked out for a while now, meaning the fight was now down to just the two of them.

"Ready to experience a whole new meaning of pain?" Jacky asked.

King Lion sighed. "Look, I don't really want to suffer another loss like this, so I'll just give up and leave right now, okay?" With that, King Lion silently marched towards the door and out of the box.

Jacky scratched his head, then shrugged. "You guys done?" He asked as he went over to Louis and started untying him.

Clark tossed Vega into the wall, knocking him out. "Yeah. I'm done."

"As am I." Lei said, standing over Roy, whom was slowly starting to wake up.

"Ugh…" Roy moaned. "Man. What have I been doing?"

"Exactly what you were told to do." Lei sighed as he helped Roy to his feet.

"Well, King Lion got away, but at least we saved one of the kids." Jacky shrugged as he released Louis.

The young squire quickly rubbed his sore wrists. "Thanks for coming, you guys." Louis said gratefully. "I don't know what would have happened if someone hadn't shown up soon."

"Think nothing of it, kid." Clark assured.

"Well, our work is done here, so we may as well go." Lei suggested. Everyone nodded and left the box.

"No, seriously. What have I been doing?" Roy asked as he followed everyone out.

**(Dome; Hallways) **

King Lion, frustrated at his horrible luck, stormed down a hallway. He was so wrapped up in his thinking that he didn't see the person coming from the Men's Room as he walked past the doorway until it was too late.

The black-haired man looked up at King Lion and narrowed his eyes. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" He shouted.

"Look. I'm not in the mood, punk." King Lion said.

"Excuse me? 'Punk', am I?" The young man asked as he drew a metallic object from his belt and pressed a button on it, creating a beam of light that sprouted from within it.

As King Lion was about to learn, you should never tick off a Jedi.

**(The Arena) **

Juggernaut pulled his fist back and slammed it into the canvas. Jacques saw this coming and rolled out of the way, barely avoiding the huge fist that almost flattened him. Once he got back into a standing position, Jacques quickly kicked at Juggernaut's face, landing a hit. Jacques found out long ago that Juggernaut's most vulnerable body part was his face, so the blonde mercenary knew what to go for.

The kick was a success, as Juggernaut stepped back for a couple of feet in recoil. After recovering, Juggernaut looked down at Jacques and snarled. "Oh, you think you're SO smart, don't you?"

Jacques shrugged. "No. Not really." He said simply.

"Then how did you know to go for my face?" Juggernaut asked.

"It was pretty obvious." Jacques pointed out, looking at his opponent's armoured body.

Juggernaut growled. "Okay. I'm gonna take you down for that one!"

The huge titan rushed at Jacques, but all he got was a face-full of crossbow, which Jacques had decided to use as a weapon. As Juggernaut stepped back again, Jacques approached him silently.

"How are you so quick, anyway?" Juggernaut asked.

Jacques didn't answer. He simply loaded a bolt into his crossbow and let it fly straight into the huge man's forehead. Although the bolt didn't penetrate his helmet, it still stuck into it.

"Hey! What was that for?" Juggernaut asked, trying to pluck the bolt from his helmet.

"A distraction." Jacques said as he jumped at Juggernaut and kicked him in the chest. This was enough to knock the lumbering titan to his back. The silent marksman then climbed onto Juggernaut's body, walked over to his face and kicked it a couple of times.

Getting annoyed, Juggernaut leapt to his feet and knocked Jacques away, towards the ropes. Seeing his opponent close to elimination, Juggernaut rushed forward in a powerful head-butt.

Jacques looked ahead in time to see Juggernaut coming, then rushed to the side, allowing his opponent to run into the ropes. Jacques made quick work of his opponent, running behind the huge mutant and pushing him over the ropes.

Juggernaut landed in Perfect Dark. Joanna blasted him with a rocket launcher.

Yuri landed on the canvas and rubbed her chin. Wario, cracking his knuckles, waddled over.

"Man, this is great! I get to beat up a bunch of people I don't even know and it's perfectly legal!" Wario laughed. "And it'll just get even better with the next Smash Bros. tournament coming up! I can't wait to smash Solid Snake's face in!"

Ignoring the pain in her face, Yuri stood up. "I won't let myself be beaten by an overfed elf!" She shouted.

Wario stopped, his eyes narrowed. "Okay, ignoring the fact that I'm ten times stronger than you, you just crossed the line in calling me an 'elf', sister." He said. "I hope you realize now that there's not going to be much of you left for me to throw from the arena, right?"

Yuri, not one to admit defeat to a strong opponent (she had fought Chang Koehan, the strongest man in her node, before), simply rushed at the yellow-clad plumber. "Chou Upper!" She shouted, lunging at Wario in her trademark uppercut.

Wario, taken aback by Yuri's speed, took the attack to the chin and was sent flying several feet away. Wario landed on his behind, rolled backwards for a couple of feet and finally came to rest on his stomach. Wario quickly got to his feet and glared at Yuri.

"Okay, so you're quick. Big deal." Wario shrugged. "Speed doesn't beat strength and wit, you know."

"You should watch some Roadrunner cartoons sometime." Yuri said with a smirk as she advanced again.

Yuri started to lash out her hand and send her fireball into Wario's face, but the mustached man was quick to grab her arm. Wario then lifted Yuri into the air and threw her away.

The young Sakazaki landed on the canvas, closer to the ropes than she would have liked. Looking ahead, Yuri saw Wario rushing at her headfirst, his head engulfed in a strange energy.

Knowing that Wario was preparing his signature charging head-butt, Yuri acted quickly. Leaping into the air Yuri allowed Wario to run directly beneath her, then landed after he had passed.

Wario realized that he had missed his target and tried to stop. It took him a few seconds, but Wario managed to stop running. However, his small victory was short-lived, as Yuri took this opportunity to throw him from the arena while he was distracted.

Wario landed in the middle of a surprisingly-empty road. Suddenly, a police car drove up and two very distinctive figures stepped out.

"Excuse me, sir." The taller cop, a brown dog dressed in a detective suit. "Do you know why we stopped when we saw you?"

"Uh…No?" Wario replied.

"You look amazingly like a ferret, and as you may know, it is illegal for ferrets to stand dumbfoundedly in the middle of the road on a Saturday morning in July." The small, grinning, white rabbit pointed out.

"But I'm not a ferret!" Wario said, an eyebrow raised.

"That's not what it looks like from MY point of view." The rabbit continued.

"Come on, Max. Let's continue on and nail some more unsuspecting people with utterly stupid and made-up crimes." The dog said casually.

As Sam and Max got back into their car, Wario scratched his head, decided he'd seen stranger things and walked off.

**(The Arena) **

Axl continued to fire bullets from his guns at Duraal, but nothing seemed to slow her down. "Man! What kind of Maverick IS this thing?" Axl asked as he rushed at Duraal and kicked at her.

Duraal easily caught Axl's foot and threw him away. The female robot slowly walked at Axl, the arena lights making her body shine. Axl quickly got to his feet, but was back down again quickly after a sweeping kick from Duraal.

"I have to hand it to you. You are definitely the toughest Maverick I've ever fought." Axl said as he punched Duraal's face (with little luck). "I was wondering when you guys were going to get smarter."

**(Maverick Hunter Base) **

"Doesn't that idiot realize that he's NOT fighting a Maverick?" Palette asked Cinnamon.

"I don't think so." Cinnamon replied, worried for her friend. "I sure hope he can win this, though."

**(The Arena) **

Axl tried his morphing move, transforming into Terry Bogard. He tried a Buster Wolf, but it did little to stop Duraal, as the machine smacked him in the face with a hard left hook. Axl staggered to the side, but quickly recovered, transforming back into his normal state.

"Man. What do I need to do to defeat you?" Axl asked. "Everything I'm dishing out just doesn't seem to be working on you."

Duraal, being incapable of speech, didn't reply. She simply grabbed Axl and slammed him into the canvas. Axl got up and was about to continue attacking when an idea suddenly came to his head.

"Hey, wait! Of course!" Axl said as he transformed again.

Once the light faded, in Axl's place stood an exact replica of Wolf Hawkfield.

"If I can't take you out, maybe your only weakness is someone else from your node." Axl said, his vice sounding like Wolf's.

Axl advanced, throwing a flurry of punches. This seemed to affect Duraal, as she was backing towards the ropes.

"It's working!" Axl said. "Now for the finisher!"

Axl, still in Wolf's form, grabbed Duraal, spun her around several times and threw her away. With Duraal gone, Axl transformed back.

Duraal landed in Super Mario 64, in the lava world. The Big Bully pushed her into the lake of lava.

Mudman swung his mask at Roomi, but the bubbly catgirl was quick to leap over the wooden weapon, and then bopped the Polynesian with her fist.

The tribal chief stepped back, the force from Roomi's punch shaking his mask. Mudman grasped his mask, stopping the shaking, and then dove at his opponent again. The attack was a success, and Roomi was tackled to the ground.

Mudman jumped to his feet and then proceeded to whack Roomi with his mask several times. After about the third time, Roomi got mad and kicked Mudman away from her, springing to her feet.

"That wasn't very nice!" Roomi accused, batting her face a couple of times like a cat. "Maybe I should take you down just for that!"

"I am interested in seeing how you'll get to me." Mudman challenged.

Roomi, although wondering what Mudman was meaning by that, charged.

Mudman waved his arms a couple of times, and suddenly, a few ghostly, miniature versions of himself sprang from his mask and charged at the surprised Roomi.

However, instead of attacking the catgirl directly, the phantoms plowed into her kneecaps, taking her legs out from underneath her and bringing her to the canvas.

Mudman, feeling confident, approached the downed Roomi to throw her from the ring. However, before he got too close, Roomi sprang to life and kicked the oncoming chief in the face (or would have had he not been wearing his mask).

As Mudman stepped back, Roomi, angrier than ever, charged again, striking him with a flurry of punches and kicks.

"Uh…Can't we just discuss this without the use of violence?" Mudman asked.

"Nya!" Roomi shouted, kicking Mudman in the stomach, sending him flying several feet away.

Seeing that Mudman had landed close to the ropes, Roomi ran at him. As she did, Mudman slowly got to his feet.

Mudman snapped out of his daze in time to see Roomi coming. However, unlike those before him, Mudman didn't take the time he had to get out of dodge. "Oh, crap!" He said instead.

Needless to say, Roomi vaulted Mudman out of the ring with a well-placed kick to the chest.

"And in one section, Kizuna Encounter and World Heroes are out of the tournement!" SSBFreak announced.

Mudman landed in Chuck Rock. Chuck approached and the two stared each other down for about three seconds before Chuck bounced the tribal chief off his stomach.

Billy swung his staff at Kasumi Todoh, but the younger fighter easily avoided the swing. Billy's attacks looked like they were starting to slow down a bit. Probably because he had been in the ring for a while now (and had currently tied with Rainbow Mika for the most eliminations of the tournament) and fatigue was starting to weigh him down.

After Billy swung, Kasumi jumped to attack, striking the elder Kane with a wave of energy streaks to the face. Billy flew back and landed on the canvas, but got to his feet, although he had to use his staff to lean on.

"Look, Billy. I have nothing but respect for your skills, and I know that you could probably beat me if we were evenly matched." Kasumi reasoned. "However, you've been in the ring far too long to last much longer."

Billy chuckled weakly. "Not even close. I'm ready to take on the final twenty!"

"Somehow, I find that unlikely." Kasumi sighed. "Look, I don't want to hurt you, Billy. So please allow me to eliminate you! I don't think anyone else other than that robot girl over there would be so merciful."

"You're right on that, but I definitely not gonna give up." Billy refused.

"Okay. If that's really how you want it." Kasumi said worriedly, hoping that Billy wouldn't get hurt too much.

Billy advanced on Kasumi again, vaulting at her and kicking. Kasumi took the attack to the face and was launched backwards into a turnbuckle. Kasumi quickly stood up and rushed at Billy kicking him in the stomach, then slamming her palm in his face.

As Billy stepped back a couple of feet, Kasumi continued, attacking him with a stronger wave of energy streaks, then kicking him in the face. Kasumi then rushed at Billy and grabbed his arm.

"I'm sorry about this." Kasumi said as she threw Billy over her shoulder, aiming to throw him from the arena.

However, Billy wasn't thrown over Kasumi's shoulder and was instead pulled around her awkwardly. When he landed on his back, he landed on his arm, and everyone heard a loud snap coming from his arm.

Billy roared in pain, making Kasumi let go of him and step back in surprise. Kasumi quickly dropped to her knees. "Billy! What happened? What did I do?" She asked, worried that she had just made his condition worse.

"I…I can't feel my arm!" Billy said in realization. "You just broke my arm!"

Kasumi gasped and covered her face. "Oh, no! I'm so, so sorry! I honestly didn't mean for this to happen!"

Knowing that Billy required immediate medical attention, Kasumi was forced to pick him up and throw him from the arena, hoping that the doctors would be able to help him when he got back.

Kasumi, feeling extremely guilty, turned towards the battle and charged at Yamazaki, tears streaming down her face.

Billy landed in Unreal Championship. Doing his best to ignore the pain in his arm, he stood up.

"Hey! Head's up, bro!" Someone taunted.

Billy turned and saw a player shooting a grenade at him. Gripping his staff with his good hand, Billy swung it, striking the oncoming grenade and sending it back to the person that had shot it.

"Oh, man! That was an awesome hit, dude!" The player shouted down at Billy, seemingly forgetting that his own grenade was flying back towards him. "Really! That was a totally sick hit!"

As an explosion rocked the arena, Billy walked off to find a place to rest until his ten minutes were up.

**(Hotel; Arcade) **

Balrog thrust his fist at Cody, but the former hero of Metro City promptly held up his arms. All Balrog managed to hit was the chain linking Cody's handcuffs together, and that REALLY hurt.

As Balrog stepped back, Cody advanced kicking the black boxer in the face. Cody then followed up with a Criminal Upper, creating a small tornado and launching Balrog into the air. Balrog came crashing down onto the DDR machine, but he quickly got to his feet again.

"You're really starting to tick me off, Travers." Balrog said, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, my guess is that it's pretty easy to do that." Cody replied with a sly smirk. "If you weren't you wouldn't have been banned from boxing in the first place."

"Why do people keep bringing that up?" Balrog roared as he rushed forward. And slammed his iron-hard fist into the side of Cody's face.

"Come on, Cody!" Mel cheered. "You can show this loser that you don't lose to freaks like him!"

Cody smirked. "You got that right, kid." He said as he kicked Balrog in the face again, launching him backwards.

Balrog slowly got to his feet and stepped away from the arcade machine he had smashed into (which had remained undamaged somehow) and advanced again. "Crazy Buffalo!" He shouted.

Cody shook his head and calmly sidestepped. "You should really stop announcing what moves you're gonna perform." He said. "Your moves are predictable as it is."

Balrog's fist soared past Cody, making him even madder. "Stop mocking me!" He said as he swung his fist, nailing Cody with a right hook, making the two break apart for a second.

Before either of the two had time to react, the five leaders of the security force walked in between them.

"Excuse me."

"Pardon me."

"Nothing to see here."

Psymon remained silent, but shook Cody's hand with a wide grin as he passed. The team arrived at Mel and picked him up.

"Okay, guys. Let's kick it into rewind." Psymon said.

With that, the five started walking backwards, going in between the two fighters. Psymon again shook Cody's hand as he walked past.

"Ereh ees ot gnihton."

"Em nodrap."

"Em esucxe."

The two watched the security leaders walk out of the arcade with Mel, and once they did, Cody punched the unsuspecting Balrog in the face, knocking him out.

"Man. That was definitely within the top five weirdest things I've ever seen." Cody said as he silently left the arcade.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

"You guys ready?" Chonrei asked. "We need to make this one count."

"Don't worry." Reed, whom was feeling a lot better since his defeat at Yamazaki's hands. "We're behind you all the way. Right, Samus?"

"You bet." Samus nodded. "In fact, I think that we-"

"Attention, please." Unknown1 announced through a speaker on the wall. "Will Samus from the Suikoden node please report to the Ready Room? The final section is coming up and you need to enter the arena."

"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding." Samus sighed. "I completely forgot that I hadn't entered the arena yet."

"Samus, I guess you'd better go enter the arena, then." Vivian suggested.

"I can't do that! You guys might need me!" Samus retaliated.

"People will get suspicious if you don't enter the arena." Chonrei explained. "I suggest that you enter the arena. I think we'll be able to manage by ourselves."

Samus sighed. "Okay. Just be careful guys."

Wishing everyone luck, Samus turned around and rushed off to prepare to enter the arena.

**(The Arena) **

"Falcon Kick!"

Tsugumi Sendo avoided the Captain Falcon's attack again with a leap to the side. And like she had done before, Tsugumi kicked him in the face the instant his foot hit the canvas.

Falcon stepped back and held his helmet to stop the loud ringing. "You're tougher than I thought you were." He complimented.

"Well, thanks. But the fact is that you keep doing the same move." Tsugumi pointed out. "I'm not really having a hard time avoiding you, you know."

Falcon stood in silence. "Uh…You know? I've never thought about that."

"Well, I think we should get back to fighting before this turns into a conversation that'll bore everyone here."

"Yeah. You're right."

Falcon was the first to act, rushing at Tsugumi shoulder-first. Tsugumi didn't move out of the way, and instead pulled her fist back, waved it around a couple of times, then threw it forward, landing a direct hit to Falcon's head, knocking the racer to the ground.

While Falcon was on the ground, Tsugumi hoisted him into the air, lifted him onto her shoulders, then threw him at the canvas, jumping on him at the same time.

Falcon slowly got to his feet, but shook off Tsugumi's surprisingly strong attack with little effort. He looked at the young wrestler. "Okay. Now it's time to get serious." He said.

Tsugumi smirked. "Let's see what you can do!" She challenged.

"Very well." Falcon replied.

With that, Falcon rushed at Tsugumi with amazing speeds and delivered a hard punch to her stomach, then a kick to her head. Falcon hit Tsugumi with about twenty punches and kicks before backing away.

Tsugumi, relieved from the onslaught, held her head to stop the dizziness.

Falcon, on the other hand, pulled his fist back. "Falcon…"

"…PUNCH!"

The falcon-shaped flame surrounding Falcon's fist held a lot more power than it looked. Tsugumi went flying out of the arena and fell through a portal.

Tsugumi landed in Konami Krazy Racers. Goemon hit her, knocking her aside. This wouldn't have been so bad, but Vic Viper then drove over her.

Roll leaned to the side as Roomi's paw swung where her head had been. Roll then shot the catgirl with another Roll Buster, knocking her far away. Roomi quickly got to her feet and charged again.

"I have to admit that you've done pretty well." Roll complimented as Roomi kicked at her. "Your node has five eliminations already. That's definitely nothing to laugh at."

Roomi nodded. "You've been doin' pretty good yourself." She said. "I think we're about even right now for eliminations."

"Yeah. I'm not sure, but you're probably right." Roll shrugged. "I've more been focusing on staying in the ring."

"Heya, it's done ya good so far." Roomi said. "So why don't we continue and see which of us gets that fourth elimination?"

"Sure. I'm feeling a little better now that Abyss is gone."

The two rushed each other again. Roll tried firing another Roll Buster at Roomi, but was kicked in the stomach before she got the chance to do so. Roll quickly countered with a kick of her own, knocking Roomi away from her again.

This continued for about twenty seconds until Roomi managed to get lucky and deliver a hard whack to the robot girl's head, knocking her to the canvas.

"Alright! It looks like I win!" Roomi said in victory. "Sorry, but I gotta eliminate ya now."

Unfortunately, Roomi never got the chance. Yuri Sakazaki flew into her from behind, knocking both of them to the ground.

Roll looked at whomever had saved her and saw Jacques holding out his hand. "Looked like you could use some help." He said quietly.

Roll thankfully took Jacques' hand and allowed him to help her to her feet. "Thanks. Well, it looks like our opponents are down."

"We may as well toss them out, then."

"Sure."

Roll picked up Roomi and dumped her over the ropes. Jacques did the same with Yuri. Both girls fell into the elimination portal at almost the same time.

Roomi and Yuri both landed on a desert road. The Roadrunner tripped over them, thankful that Wile E was at the tournament rather than chasing him.

Shigen swung a rock-solid fist at the Ice Climbers, but the two kids were too fast and ran away in opposite directions. The two Eskimos ran around the huge man, leapt into the air and slammed their mallets into Shigen's back at the same time.

However, this didn't even make Shigen flinch. He turned and looked down at the kids, annoyed.

Nana worriedly looked at Popo. "What do we do, bro?" She asked. "We can't seem to hurt him."

"Everyone has a weakness, Nana. Even Giga Bowser had one." Popo reasoned.

"But we weren't the ones to beat it. Jigglypuff just Rested it into oblivion." Nana countered.

Popo was silent. "…Yeah. I always found it kinda odd how no one could beat that thing until Jiggypuff stepped in."

However, in the time the Ice Climbers had taken to talk, Shigen had stepped close to them, stood straight and looked down at them. Popo and Nana suddenly became very aware that Shigen was more than twice their size, and probably just as powerful.

"Uh…Quick! Icicle him!" Popo said.

The two instantly started creating icicles and repeatedly batted them into Shigen's legs. Shigen felt a little cold from them, but it didn't do much to stop him.

Nana glared at Popo. "Any more bright ideas, genius?"

"Yeah, I think I might have a couple more." Popo said. "Spin! Quick!"

The two got back to back and spun around with their mallets outstretched, spinning straight into Shigen's legs. This plan worked out a lot better than the last, as it was enough to make Shigen topple over.

"Hey! It worked!" Popo said in astonishment.

"Come on! We need to get him out of the arena!" Nana said as she and Popo froze Shigen inside a huge icicle.

It took a fair amount of effort, but the two Ice Climbers managed to push Shigen underneath the ropes and out of the arena.

Shigen landed in Pokemon, where he spent the next ten minutes taking out annoying trainers that mistook him for a Pokemon.

Back in the arena, the Ice Climbers sighed in relief at their victory, and turned around to see whom else was in the arena. Roll once again tightened the ribbon in her hair, making sure that it wouldn't come out. Kasumi Todoh was still feeling guilty about breaking Billy's arm, and was wiping a few tears away. Axl was whistling as he leaned against a turnbuckle, fiddling with one of his guns. Captain Falcon was starting to look tired, but was otherwise okay. Jacques silently wiped his gigantic crossbow with a cloth, cleaning a mark on it. Finally, Yamazaki was casually looking around, one hand still in his pocket.

Everyone knew that the tournament was ending by now, because the final wave of fighters were about to enter the arena…

**RESULTS**

KASUMI TODOH (KOF)

JACQUES (S3)

ROLL (MM)

CAPTAIN FALCON (SSB)

AXL (MMX7)

RYUJI YAMAZAKI (FF)

ICE CLIMBERS (SSB)

**(ELIMINATED)**

YURI SAKAZAKI (KOF)

WARIO (WW)

ROOMI (GF)

E. HONDA (SFA3)

TSUGUMI SENDO (FF:WA)

JUGGERNAUT (MC)

BILLY KANE (FF)

SHIGEN NAOE (LB)

MUDMAN (WH)

DURAAL (VF)

ABUBO (RotD)

ABYSS (MVSC2)

GOZU (KE)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Louis' Rescue" **

JACKY BRYANT (VF) _**stomps out**_ KING LION (KE) and TOAD (MC)

"**Brainwashed Bonehead" **

LEI WULONG (T5) _**arrests**_ ROY (SSB)

"**Ikari Strike" **

CLARK STEELE (KOF) _**tosses**_ VEGA (SFA3)

"**Mel's Rescue" **

CODY (SFA3) _**lays the smack-down on**_ BALROG (SFA3)

Eliminations: Kasumi, Jacques and Roll, 2; Falcon, Axl, Yamazaki, Ice Climbers, Yuri, Wario and Roomi, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: Billy Kane (8), R. Mika (8), King (7), Xigbar (6), Bruce Irvin (6), Chun-Li (5), Peach Toadstool (5)

**The Falling of a Leader:** With eight eliminations, tying him for the lead with R. Mika, Billy Kane has fallen. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite able to get that ninth elimination to take the lead.

**Mystery Mischief:** Six Mystery Fighters entered this section. After the dust settled, Axl and Roll are the only ones left standing.


	42. Section Twenty

**(The Arena) **

The seven fighters left in the arena rested up as much as they could, because they all knew that they'd need as much rest as they could get if they were to win the tournament. With heavy-hitters like Ryu, Ken, Terry Bogard, Mario, Sonic and Chun-Li already gone, it was really anyone's game at this point. Everyone (even Yamazaki) was secretly nervous about their chances.

Suddenly, everyone heard cheering. Turning to the curtain, everyone left in the arena saw the next fighter entering.

"**BLUE MARY RYAN!" (FF) **

Mary, Terry Bogard's girlfriend, came out to a loud cheer. Mary waved to the crowd gratefully and jumped into the arena

The first one Mary went for was Yamazaki. "Okay, pal. I may have been forced to team up with you at one point, but that was the past." She said. "I'd say it's time I handed you in to Hon-Fu."

Yamazaki chuckled. "You make me laugh, toots."

"And may I remind you of something?" Mary asked.

"Yeah?"

Mary promptly kicked Yamazaki in the face. "Don't call me 'toots'!"

"**RAVEN!" (T5) **

Being one of the newer additions to the Tekken roster, Raven was feeling confident, especially since he had gotten so late of a draw. Raven had been training by keeping himself in solitude. In fact, none of the Tekken gang had seen him since the tournament started, because Raven had spent the entire night on the roof, alone.

Jumping into the arena, Raven made a beeline for Captain Falcon, seeing that he was the longest runner currently in the arena. He ran silently and Falcon's back was turned, meaning that an easy elimination could be granted.

Falcon snapped to attention and saw Raven coming. A high kick was enough to send the black ninja sprawling temporarily.

"**AKARI ICHIJO!" (LB) **

To a loud cheer, Akari burst out from behind the curtain and waved excitedly. Bounding down to the arena, Akari leapt in headfirst and landed in the ring.

In fact, she landed beside Kasumi Todoh, whom jumped back in surprise. "Whoa! Where'd YOU come from?" She asked.

"The Ready Room." Akari replied. "Now, I believe we're here to fight, so why don't we do that?"

Kasumi scratched her head. "I can't think of a reason not to."

"Great! Don't you dare hold back!"

"Wasn't planning on it."

"**CHOI BOUNGE! (KOF) **

The small, clawed man came out to a mixed reaction, but Choi paid it no mind. He was half-glad that he had gotten such a late draw, but he was really worried for Chang, considering that he had gone under an unusual transformation.

{Well, I guess the only thing left for me to do is clean up from where Chang left off.} Choi thought as he jumped into the arena. {Maybe I'll still be able to win this thing. After all, there'll only be twenty fighters left in the ring.}

When Choi landed, he quickly saw that the Ice Climbers were about his size and rushed over to challenge them.

Nana, seeing Choi coming, tapped her brother on the shoulder. "Hey, Popo! Here comes a little man with sharp fingernails!"

Popo looked at saw Choi rushing over. "Well, it looks like he wants a fight, sis." He said. "Should we give him one?"

"You bet, Popo!"

**(Hotel; Magneto's Room) **

"Let Shabon go, you creep!" Shabon shouted as she thrashed against the ropes binding her to her chair.

Magneto, the lone villain in the room, sighed. "Humans." He muttered. "I can't stand a single one of them."

"When Toppo finds out what you're doing to Shabon, he's gonna kick your butt!" Shabon said with a smirk.

"Look, aside from the fact that I don't know whom this 'Toppo' fool is, nothing will be able to stand up to my power." Magneto said.

"A lot of good your power did in the ring." Shabon taunted.

Magneto narrowed his eyes and walked around the room. "You've got a sharp tongue, girl. Be thankful I'm not allowed to tear it out."

Shabon shivered at the mere thought of Magneto doing what he just said he would do. "You'll be really sorry, buster! Shabon has really tough friends! Almost as tough as that X-Men team that you go against on a regular basis!"

"I'm sure." Magneto said. "Why don't you humour me and tell me who this 'Toppo' fellow is."

Shabon was about to reply when the door suddenly flew open thanks to a kick from the other side. Magneto and Shabon looked into the now-open doorway and saw a royally ticked-off Toppo standing there, still holding the Master Sword.

Although confused at the sight of Toppo wielding an unusual weapon, Shabon grinned from ear to ear in happiness and relief, then looked up at Magneto. "That's him."

Magneto scoffed. "THIS is the 'Toppo' you keep rambling on and on about?" He asked. "Please. He doesn't look so tough."

Toppo, seeing Magneto, growled. He knew that Shabon was counting on him, and he wasn't about to let her down. Holding the Master Sword in his right hand, Toppo fingered a grenade Sodom had given to him earlier with his left.

Magneto lifted himself off the ground. "I see that you wish to rescue your friend. So let's see if your capable of such a feat."

Toppo let out a battle cry and rushed at Magneto, waving the Master Sword.

**(The Arena) **

"**KARIN!" (SFA3) **

The blonde haired schoolgirl/noble came out to a decent-sized cheer. She looked around and waved casually.

"Ohohohohohohohohohoho!" Karin laughed in her trademark laugh. "Coming out this late only means that I've got bigger chances of winning. I'm not about to blow this chance now."

Once Karin landed, she saw that she was the only Street Fighter in the ring, and thus meant that she was the last one left standing as well.

"Oh, bother." Karin lamented. "I guess I'll need to focus on taking out opponents by my lonesome."

With that, Karin rushed at Jacques, whom leveled his crossbow at her shoulder.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**TWENTY-FIVE**!"

"**BRIAN BATTLER!" (King of Fighters '98) **

"_We all wanna run the race to win!" _

"_Never giving up or giving in!" _

"_Comin' at ya like a blitz!" _

"_Like a blitz!"_

As Audio Adrenaline blared through the speakers, Brian came out to a surprised crowd and a loud cheer. Brian, the third part of the USA Sports Team, whooped wildly and pumped his fists into the air as he jogged down to the ring.

"Yeah! USA Sports Team! Numbah one!" Brian cheered as he jumped into the ring.

Brian couldn't believe his awesome luck. SSBFreak had approached him only a few minutes ago and asked him if he wanted to participate. Hey, his homeboys D! and Lucky had already entered. How could Brian refuse such an offer?

Well, now he was back and he was determined to prove himself. He demonstrated this by rushing at the battle Mary was having with Yamazaki. Brian jumped at Yamazaki and kicked him in the face, knocking him down.

"Oh! Brian!" Mary said. "Good timing! Can you give me a hand with this creep?"

"Gladly." Brian said, cracking his knuckles.

"**RIMURURU!" (SS) **

Nakoruru's sister and a wielder of ice, Rimururu came out to a decently-sized cheer. The young girl waved timidly and nervously walked down to the ring, stepping in.

Once she was in the arena, Rimururu silently walked around the carnage all over the arena and made her way over to Roll. "Uh…Hey." She greeted.

"Hey." Roll replied, not sounding as nervous as she did when she entered the arena.

"You wanna double-team for a second?" Rimururu asked. "I'm kinda worried about my chances if I go it alone."

"To be honest, you're not alone." Roll shrugged. "Sure. We'll double-team for a bit."

Rimururu sighed in relief. "Thanks a lot."

"**SPIDERMAN!" (MC) **

Coming out to a loud cheer as his theme song from his cartoon series (as he usually did for when he entered tournaments like this), Spiderman waved to the crowd, shook a few hands, and approached the end of the ramp. Firing a webline to a light fixture above the ring, Spiderman swung in feet-first.

His feet connected with an unsuspecting Axl. The young Maverick Hunter jumped to his feet and leveled his gun at Spiderman's head. "What was that for?" Axl asked.

"I was getting into the arena. You were just in the way." Spiderman shrugged.

"Well, I'd say it's about time for me to teach you a lesson, then." Axl said as he advanced.

"**JEFFRY MCWILD!" (VF) **

The huge, hairy man (and last Virtua Fighter) came out to a decent cheer. Jeffry laughed heartily and waved to the crowd as he walked down to the arena and jumped in. Now it was time to show everyone what the Virtua Fighters were made of.

Once he was in the ring, Jeffry walked over to the Ice Climbers, whom had just knocked Choi away. "Hey, kids!" He greeted.

"Oh, Popo! Look! It's a scary-looking man with a lot of body hair!" Nana said.

"Yep. You're right." Popo agreed. "You want something?"

"As a matter of fact, I was hoping for a fight." Jeffry said simply.

"Well, seeing as we just knocked our current opponent away, I guess we'll fight you." Popo said with a shrug.

"Great! Let's go!" Jeffry said as he got into his stance.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

Everyone watched the carnage in anticipation. They knew that after everyone had entered, there wasn't going to be any more entering. That meant that everyone in the arena would have a one-in-twenty chance of winning the entire thing, and everyone was hoping that it would be someone from their node. The only exceptions were the Kizuna Encounter and World Heroes groups, mainly because their last representatives had been eliminated already.

"There's going to be three of us in the arena after this." Samus Aran pointed out. "That means that we've got the best chance of winning this thing."

"Maybe." Marth replied. "Falcon is looking tired, so I don't know if he'll be the one to do it."

"You never know. He may surprise us."

Meanwhile, Cecile was watching the arena with interest. Juan, laying back in his chair, opened one eye. "What's up?"

"We'll have two people in the arena once everyone's in." Cecile explained. "I'm just hoping Jacques or Samus will be able to win this."

Juan shrugged. "This late in the night, it's anyone's game." He replied.

"Yeah, but that still doesn't make me stop hoping that one of those two will win." Cecile said.

Terry Bogard took off his hat and watched Mary fight Yamazaki with Brian. Ryo, sitting beside him, asked the obvious. "Kasumi or Choi?" He asked. "Which one do you think will do better?"

"Out of the two of them, I don't know." Terry shrugged. "But I hope Mary wins this thing, and this late in the tournament, that may not be too hard to do."

"You're just saying that because she's your girlfriend." Ryo chuckled.

"Yeah? So?"

"Well, all things aside, I'm surprised that Brian made it into this thing." Ryo continued, changing the subject. "How well do you think he'll do?"

"With D! and Lucky doing as well as they did, I'd say anything's possible."

The Street Fighter gang was rooting for Karin, but none of the cheers were as loud as Sakura's. "Come on, Karin!" She cheered. "You can do this! It's just one more wave of fighters!"

"I thought you two were rivals." G. Done observed.

"We are, but that doesn't mean we aren't friends." Sakura replied. "I hope that she pulls out on top, because there's only twenty people left."

"Well, no offense, but if I were a betting man, I'd place my bets elsewhere." G. Done explained.

"On the guy from your node that hasn't entered yet?"

"Well…No." G. Done replied. "I know Rolf's the main character of our game, but I honestly think there's more talented people in the arena now."

"Well, at least you guys aren't leaving empty-handed."

"Yeah. That's for sure."

**(The Arena) **

"**ROLF!" (GF) **

The last Galaxy Fighter came out to a small cheer. The cheer was nowhere near the size of Roomi's, but Rolf paid it no mind and still went down to the arena.

Once he was in the arena, Brian Battler landed beside him, a victim to one of Yamazaki's throws. Seeing an easy elimination, Rolf smirked and advanced.

However, before he could get very far, Brian jumped to his feet and looked down at Rolf, showing that he was at least a foot taller than him. "Well! Another Galaxy Fighter! This is gonna be fun." With that, Brian crouched low and rushed at Rolf, preparing to tackle him.

"And now…Mystery Fighter…Number…**TWENTY-SIX**!"

"**ALLY GATOR!" (Black & Bruised) **

"_In the jungle" _

"_The mighty jungle" _

"_The lion sleeps tonight" _

"_In the jungle" _

"_The mighty jungle" _

"_The lion sleeps tonight"_

Although she received only a few cheers (because she was so unknown), Ally was still thrilled to have been given this chance to enter a fighting arena with the best fighters around.

Once she got into the arena, Ally looked around for someone that didn't have an opponent. Seeing Kasumi throw Akari away, she decided to go fight her.

Kasumi looked ahead and saw Ally coming over. She tried to figure out where she was from, but ended up drawing a blank. "Who are you?" She asked.

"You'd be surprised how much I get that." Ally said. "Well, I'm Ally, and I'm here for a fight, so you up for one?"

Kasumi shrugged. "Sure. Let's see what you've got."

**(Announcer's Booth) **

Unknown1 looked at SSBFreak and saw him looking at Ally intently. "Dude, you've got the strangest tastes." He sighed.

"What?" SSBFreak asked.

"You like an unknown girl like her, and yet you don't like Chun-Li and Mai Shiranui?" Unknown1 asked.

"It's a long story."

**(The Arena) **

"**SAMUS!" (S3) **

Standing outside the entrance curtain, Samus took a deep breath and drew his sword. The cheer he was getting was slightly larger than the one Reed was getting earlier in the night, but Samus wasn't really paying attention.

"I guess I'm forced to try my hardest here." Samus sighed. "No matter what, if I get eliminated here, it'll be too late to help anyone out before I get back."

Leaping into the arena, Samus looked around. Seeing Jacques fighting off Karin, Samus rushed over to assist the blonde mercenary.

Jacques saw Samus coming and dodged a strike from Karin. "Good to see you, Samus."

"Right back at ya, Jacques." Samus nodded. "Looks like we were lucky enough to get two of us into the final twenty."

Jacques nodded.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

"Well, it's time to bring out the last fighter." SSBFreak said.

"I call making the introduction!" Unknown1 replied.

"Hey! I was going to do it! It's MY tournament!"

"Exactly! That means that I should be the one to do it!"

The two friends quickly leapt and each other and started brawling, rolling around on the ground of the booth and throwing several punches. However, amongst the carnage, a lone Goomba was walking by. Seeing the two fighting, the Goomba entered the booth, walked over to the switchboard and jumped up.

Seeing that there was still one fighter left on the clipboard, the Goomba pressed a few buttons and threw a few switches with his feet, turning off all the lights in the arena and shining a spotlight on the entrance curtain. The Goomba walked over to the nearest mike.

**(The Arena) **

Being in complete darkness, no one could see anything, and thus stopped fighting. Everyone looked at the entrance curtain as some dramatic music started playing, as if leading up to something fantastic.

"And now, the final fighter in the first ever 'Megamix Tournament'…" A high-pitched voice came from the Announcer's Booth.

The dramatic music held a high note for a second as four red laser bolts shot through the entrance curtain, making large holes. The final fighter then brushed past the remains of the curtain, stepping onto the entrance ramp.

"**FOX MCCLOUD!" (SSB) **

The crowd erupted with cheers as the dramatic music was replaced with the Starfox theme. Fox, spinning his blaster in his hand, waved with his other hand as he walked down to the arena and stepped in (in the Announcer's Booth, SSBFreak and Unknown1 stopped fighting and watched the Goomba leave).

Fox rushed at the duel between Axl and Spiderman, then aimed his blaster, firing several times. Both Axl and Spiderman recoiled from the laser bolts a few times and they stung a bit, but it wasn't enough to bring either of them down.

"So you're the last fighter in this thing?" Axl asked. "Well, definitely not much to look at."

Fox narrowed his eyes. "I'll have you know that I'm one of the best pilots in my node."

"Pilot. Not fighter." Spiderman pointed out. "Why don't we just see how well you fight."

The canine pilot smirked. "Let's do this!"

Over two-hundred-seventy fighters had entered the arena over the course of the night. Some may have been eliminated within seconds, but others had gone on to get five or more eliminations. And now, there were only twenty fighters left. No more, no less.

And standing in the arena was the one person that would soon become the Megamix Tournament Champion.


	43. Section Twenty Results A

**(The Arena) **

Blue Mary ducked as Yamazaki's fist snapped above her. The policewoman (and former team-mate of the deranged psycho) kicked at Yamazaki's kneecap. Yamazaki easily avoided the attempt, grabbed Mary and threw her aside.

Mary landed on her side, but quickly recovered and rolled into a kneeling position. "Still quick, I see." She said.

Yamazaki smirked. "Always have been." He replied with a shrug. "Far quicker than you are, toots."

Mary's eye twitched. "I thought I told you never to call me that!" She shouted as she sprung to her feet and rushed the thug.

Seeing her coming, Yamazaki smirked again. "Great. She's mad. She fights better when she's mad."

Fox McCloud fired several laser bolts at Spiderman, but the masked marvel was just too quick for him and avoided all of the shots with ease, firing weblines all over the arena to get around quickly.

Seeing that he wasn't getting anywhere, Fox narrowed his eyes and put his blaster away. "Okay. I guess it's time to try something different."

Concentrating deeply, Fox surrounded himself with a flame-like energy. Spiderman, not really sure what to expect, paused a good distance away from the young pilot.

Unfortunately, he wasn't far enough away. Fox lunged upwards in his trademark Fire Fox and nailed Spiderman (whom had been hanging from a webline attached to a beam above the ring) in the chest. This knocked the spunky superhero off his webline and onto the canvas.

Spiderman jumped to his feet. "So you've got a couple of tricks. Meh. Big deal. Half the people in my node are quicker than you." He pointed out.

"You're probably right, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still the quickest in MY node." Fox replied with a smirk.

"So why don't you prove it?" Spiderman taunted.

"You asked for it." Fox said as he crouched low and shot forward in a Fox Illusion, flying into Spiderman at amazing speeds and sending him into the air.

Spiderman landed on his back and got to his feet. Maybe he should start rethinking his strategy…

Samus continued to parry attacks from Axl' guns with his sword, as he had been doing almost ever since he had entered the ring. Even still, Samus found himself backing up as he parried, as Axl wasn't letting up and continued to pelt the dark-skinned man with his seemingly endless supply of bullets.

At the same time, Kasumi Todoh and Ally Gator were also doing battle, but using their respective fists rather than weapons. Much like Samus and Axl, one was managing to force the other backwards using a series of parried strikes. Ally was on the receiving end and thus was the one getting forced backwards. Unknowingly, she was backing towards Samus, whom was still backing up as well.

Tinto soldier and redhead boxer backed into each other and froze. Samus took a glance over his shoulder. "Sorry about that." He apologized.

"Don't be." Ally assured. "I backed into you."

"Uh…Switch opponents?"

"Sure."

Samus and Ally spun around, charged past each other and rushed their surprised opponents, resuming different fights.

**(Dome; Hallway) **

"Come on, Eiji!" Julia urged. "We're almost there!"

"Why are we going to the room of those rejects, anyway?" Eiji asked as he staggered after Julia, still trying to keep the elements fighting in his body under control.

"We need to find Gozu and Mezu!" Julia replied. "They'r ethe only ones whom can get rid of these elements! Oh, I feel so stupid for leaving them back at Wile E's lab!"

"Don't hit yourself over it, Julia." Eiji said. "But if it'll help get rid of these elements battling for my body, I'm all for it."

Unknown to the two, a silent figure stood in the shadows, watching them. A smirk floated across the figure's face as the glint of a sword appeared.

"Julia, wait." Eiji said.

"Yes?" Julia asked, stopping.

"I know I've been saying this a lot, but I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me since you found out about my predicament." Eiji explained. "No one's ever shown me kindness like you have, and I just wanted to let you know that I am extremely grateful for you helping me."

Julia chuckled. "And I know I've been saying this a lot, but it's alright. I'll gladly help you, because no one deserves what you're going through." She replied. "It's been my absolute pleasure to help you, Eiji."

Eiji was about to reply when his ninja senses kicked into gear. Staring into the shadows with an odd expression, Eiji's eyes narrowed.

Julia saw this. "What's up, Eiji?"

"There's someone watching us." Eiji replied. "I can hear him breathing."

"Very sharp ninja skills." A voice said from the shadows, this time getting Julia's attention as well.

The two friends watched as Setsuna stepped from the shadows. "I was expecting you to take a little longer than that to locate me."

"His aura is darker than Geese Howard." Eiji murmured, his eyes wide. "I didn't even think that was possible."

"What do you want?" Julia asked.

"Quite simply, your friend's life." Setsuna replied casually. "I sensed an amazing power coming from his body and decided to come take it for myself. I honestly had no idea those ninja rejects held such power at their fingertips and yet they failed to notice it."

"Why do you have to kill Eiji to get the powers?" Julia asked.

"Because from previous experiences, the only way for me to extract the power is to slay the host." Setsuna explained with an evil smirk, lifting his sword. "So, if you please."

"Forget it!" Julia shouted, standing in front of Eiji again.

"Julia, don't!" Eiji said. "This guy is much worse than those wannabes!"

"And leave you to get killed? No way!" Julia insisted.

Setsuna smirked. "How touching, and yet so foolish at the same time."

With that, Setsuna lunged at Julia. Eiji tried to stop him, but all his got was a hard hook to the face (whom it had come from was anyone's guess). Eiji had blacked out before he even hit the ground.

**(Dome; Overhead Balcony) **

The Overhead Balcony was an amazing sight to behold. The entire thing was like a long hallway leading from one side of the room the ring was in to the other, hanging a hundred feet above the stands and arena. The Overhead Balcony was even above the Rented Boxes and the entire side of it was made of glass, providing anyone inside it with a way to see the ring. However, due to the fact that the action in the ring was still hard to see, no one was inside the balcony to watch the fights.

Instead, the only people inside were Heavy D!, Lucky, Ryoko, Chang, Sagat and Jack the World Hero, and these people were simply walking through the balcony to get to the door on the other side, which would take them not only to where Jan, King's bother, was being held, but where Bison was supposedly hiding as well.

"I'm scared, D!-san." Ryoko said, clutching D!'s arm. "What if Bison knows we're coming?"

Although still feeling unusual being called 'D!-san', Heavy D! shrugged it off. "Well, we just need to hope that he's not aware of us coming."

"Fear not, for 'The Koehan' will show this vile evildoer the true meaning of pain!" Chang said determinedly.

"Chang, buddy. We already discussed this." Lucky sighed. "You, me and Sagat are gonna go save King's brother."

Chang was silent. "Oh, yes."

"Hold it right there." A new voice ordered.

Everyone stopped and turned around. Ash Crimson approached, firearm in hand.

"Ash Crimson." Chang growled, having met the white-haired prettyboy in KOF2K3. "Such a vile man. You stole from Chizuru Kagura, the poor woman!" He said. "Prepare for a fierce beating at the hands of 'The Koehan'!"

Ash paused and lifted an eyebrow at Chang's unusual behavior, but shook it off and continued to aim his gun at the team. "Seeing as how many losses I've had today, I figured that a firearm would be helpful here."

"You really are a pitiful man, resorting to the use of guns." Sagat said in disgust.

Ash narrowed his eyes at the taller man. "Watch it, old man. I won't hesitate to shoot you first." He said. "Now, if you all want to live, I suggest that you turn around and leave now."

D! looked around for a way out. Unfortunately, he couldn't find one. He sighed in defeat and prepared to walk forward.

"Go on." A voice beside him said.

D! looked down and to his right and saw Jack staring at Ash, an insane smirk on his face. "What?"

"You go on." Jack repeated, crouching low. His hair cast a shadow over his face as he looked at Ash, waving his clawed fingers around. "I can take him."

Without giving anyone a chance to react, Jack sprung to life, tearing at Ash. Ash tried shooting a couple of times, but Jack proved to be too quick. In a split second, Jack had pounced Ash and sliced his gun in half, making it useless.

Now, Jack had jumped in from the side, and knocked Ash that way as well. Unfortunately, he was falling in the direction of the huge, glass window at the side of the balcony. Both fighters crashed through the window.

"Jack!" Ryoko shrieked and rushed over to the part of the window the two had fallen through and looked out.

Surprising everyone in the stands and arena, Jack and Ash continued to deliver punches while in midair. The two fell past the stands, but didn't go as far as the ring. This, unfortunately, meant that the only place for the two to go was through the elimination vortex, where they both vanished from sight.

**(The Arena) **

"What was up with that?" Karin asked. Her question was never answered, as the others shrugged the recent event off and resumed their respective battles.

Yamazaki continued to swing punches (with the hand that wasn't in his pocket) at Blue Mary. Said policewoman was still managing to avoid the blows, but the last one caught her off guard and struck her in the face. Mary stepped back clutching her face.

Seeing an attack land, Yamazaki smirked and advanced preparing for a super move. "Time for my all-time favourite move, toots! The Guillotine!" He shouted.

"Oh, crap!" Mary said in realization. Unfortunately, before she had time to get out of the way, Yamazaki grabbed her face in the middle of a jump, then shoved her to the ground. Still clutching Mary's face, Yamazaki then proceeded to drag her for about fifteen feet, laughing insanely, before throwing her away like a rag doll.

Mary landed on her side and looked at Yamazaki, whom was smirking triumphantly down at her.

"Pity. You should have avoided fighting me in the first place, Mary." Yamazaki said as he pulled his hand from his pocket, pulling out a knife at the same time. Without giving Mary time to react, Yamazaki lunged at her, swinging his knife.

However, before he reached Mary, a terrified Rimururu stepped in the way, using her small dagger to block Yamazaki's knife swing and protect Mary from further injury.

Seeing his attack getting nullified, Yamazaki looked at the girl responsible and saw that she was shaking like a leaf. He chuckled, slightly amused. "May I help you?" He asked.

"Y-You shall do no more of this!" Rimururu stuttered. "C-Can't you see that she's d-down?"

"And what do you intend to do to stop me?" Yamzaki asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Rimururu responded by kicking the thug in the stomach while their weapons were locked. This made Yamazaki back away, but Rimururu still advanced, kicking the taller man again, forcing him towards the ropes.

"I was afraid I was going to have to do this, but it looks like I have no choice!" Rimururu said, feeling a little less scared now.

"And what might that be?" Yamazaki asked.

Rimururu pulled her arms into the air as the diamond of ice floating behind her started moving towards the canvas. The young girl then slammed her palms into the canvas, causing the a huge stone of ice to rise from the ground under Yamazaki's feet. The attack knocked Yamazaki into the air, but not quite out of the arena.

However, Yamazaki landed on the ropes, and then proceeded to bounce off then, out of the arena.

Yamazaki landed in the node of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Casey Jones saw him and whacked him with his bat.

Jacques fired another bolt from his crossbow. Captain Falcon wasn't quick enough to avoid it, but he was lucky enough that the arrow hit his metal shoulder pad and bounced off (where it landed in Brian Battler's jersey). Falcon then rushed at the blonde mercenary and delivered a Raptor Boost to his chin. This launched Jacques into the air and sent him flying a couple feet away.

Slowly getting up, Jacques wiped a drop of blood from his mouth and looked at Falcon. "You're fast on your feet." He complimented.

"You're pretty fast yourself." Falcon replied, standing in his stance. "You almost don't eve need to aim that thing."

"Center of the target every time." Jacques replied. "Observe."

Jacques took aim again and let another bolt fly. It found a home directly in the middle of the metal bird on Falcon's helmet.

Falcon took the time to pluck the bolt from his helmet. "I'm impressed, but I'm afraid that you just crossed the line." He said.

"How so?" Jacques asked, preparing for Falcon to attack.

Falcon felt his helmet and found a hole in the golden bird. "You just made a hole in my helmet." He replied. "For that, I'm gonna have to take you down."

"We'll just have to see about that." Jacques replied, lifting his crossbow again.

Falcon rushed the blonde mercenary crouched low and lunged forward in a Falcon Kick. Jacques was prepared for this and leapt into the air. As Falcon passed underneath him, Jacques shot downward and fire two bolts at Falco. The first buried itself in his shoulder pad, but the second landed in his arm.

Grunting in pain, Falcon got out of his attack, stood up and removed the arrow from his arm. The only reason he didn't act like he was in pain was because he had experience more than that (usually at the hands of Black Shadow or Samurai Goroh).

"Game over, pal!" Falcon shouted as he rushed at Jacques again.

Jacques was so surprised at Falcon not acting like he was in pain that he wasn't prepared for Falcon's next attack. The hotshot F-Zero racer performed a Falcon Dive, latching onto the blonde mercenary and jumping off him, kicking him at the same time, knocking him back. This distracted Jacques, making him easy pickings for Falcon to throw from he ring.

Jacques landed in Unreal Championship, where he proved to be a better sniper than most of the people playing the game.

Kasumi Todoh swung her hands down, sending an energy wave at Samus. Said swordsman jumped to the side and allowed the wave to fly beside his head. Samus jabbed forward with his sword, but all he managed to do was attack the air.

Samus realized all too late that Kasumi had dodged his attack, because a sharp palm strike was delivered to his face, making him stagger back. Shaking his head back and forth to regain his senses, Samus charged at Kasumi, swinging his sword. Kasumi jumped back, but it wasn't enough. Samus' sword made a tear in her outfit, but it wasn't much.

As Samus recovered from his own attack, Kasumi jumped at him and delivered another blow to his head.

"You're a lot tougher to take down than I thought." Samus said as he rubbed his head.

"I am determined to show everyone that my father's art of Todoh style is far superior to any other fighting styles around." Kasumi replied.

"Then why don't you prove it?" Samus asked, getting into his stance again.

"Very well." Kasumi replied as the two rushed each other again and started trading blows.

Samus, being careful not to hurt Kasumi (she WAS unarmed, after all), jabbed forward several times. After she avoided three blows, Kasumi shot her palm forward again. Samus quickly raised his free hand and caught Kasumi's palm, then pushed her away.

The two stared each other down before Samus caught sight of something behind his opponent. Kasumi saw the change in his glare, spun in place and charged her energy, preparing for a massive, powerful version of her energy wave.

Swinging her arms downwards, Kasumi sent an energy wave much bigger and more powerful than normal. Raven, whom had been sneaking up on the blue-haired girl, took the attack to the face and was sent flying out of the ring.

Raven landed in Teen Titans, where the Raven of that node pounded his behind into the ground.

**(Hotel; Magneto's Room) **

Toppo slammed into the far wall of Magneto's room, the metal-controlling mutant having thrown him. Even still, Toppo refused to let go of the Master Sword, as the mystical blade seemed to be the only reason the silent juggler had lasted this long. Had Toppo simply been using the juggling balls he always carried, Magneto probably would he killed him by now.

Dusting some access plaster off his shoulder with his free hand, Toppo charged into battle again. Magneto saw him coming and scoffed. "You really don't know when to give up, do you?" He asked. "Fool."

Toppo swung the Master Sword, but it did very little to damage Magnto with him being in a suit of armour and all. Still, the force from the blow managed to knock the evil mutant to the ground.

Magneto grunted as he got to his feet, trying to find some way to beat Toppo. {I can't use my powers on that weapon he's wielding.} He thought. {Something about that sword is keeping me from using my powers on it. It looks like I'll have to figure out something else.}

Focusing his attention on a metal chair sitting by a desk, Magneto activated his powers and pulled the chair over to him. Toppo stopped running and held up the Master Sword.

"Let's see you stop this." Magneto said as he, with a flick of his wrist, hurled the metal chair at Toppo.

Toppo growled and rolled underneath the chair (which then slammed into the door, making a very nasty-looking mark). Breaking out of the roll, Toppo jumped at Magneto and kicked him in the head, knocking him back and sending his helmet flying off, revealing the gray hair underneath. Magneto's helmet landed at Toppo's feet.

"I hope you know how little that did." Magneto said as he advanced on Toppo, although still without his helmet.

Thinking quickly, Toppo picked up Magneto's helmet, ripped one of Sodom's (or Rolento's) grenades from his belt and ripped the pin out. Toppo tossed the live grenade into Magneto's helmet and threw it back at the evil mutant.

Magneto, thinking just as quickly, used his powers again and stopped his helmet in midair. "You really are a fool for trying that." He chuckled. "Maybe I should show you just how stupid that was."

Toppo's eyes snapped open in horror as Magneto magnetically pulled his helmet over to where Shabon was sitting. The little girl struggled to break free even harder now, but there was nothing she could do.

"NO!" Toppo screamed as he rushed at Shabon and swung the Master Sword, striking the helmet and ejecting the grenade from it. The deadly weapon of destruction flew a few feet away from Shabon and exploded harmlessly (well, if you call taking out the far wall harmlessly).

Seeing that Shabon was almost killed, Toppo cast an incredibly dark glare at Magneto, his eyes narrowed and his teeth clenched. Magneto couldn't remember the last time he had seen a glare this dark coming from someone on the 'good' side, but he wasn't given the chance to think about it any further.

"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH SHABON!" Toppo roared, leaping at Magneto, slashing wildly.

Magneto was suddenly extremely grateful that he was wearing a suit of armour, otherwise Toppo would have killed him instantly with all the sword attacks given to him. However, Toppo saw that he was getting anywhere and then proceeded to use his fists, striking Magneto's aging face with punch after punch.

"Finish him, Toppo!" Shabon cheered. "Shabon wants to get out of here!"

Toppo was only too happy to oblige. With one final punch, Toppo sent Magneto flying into a table, knocking him out cold.

Breathing heavily, Toppo quickly turned around, ran over to Shabon and untied her from the chair. Once she was free, Shabon's arms were instantly around her guardian. Toppo lovingly lifted Shabon into the air and held her for dear life, swearing that he wouldn't let anything like this happen to her again.

"Okay! We're-" A new voice said. "Huh?"

Toppo turned around and saw Dan and R. Mika standing at the door, looking around the room.

"Well, it looks like that fellow did our job for us." R. Mika shrugged.

"I'm not complaining." Dan replied. "Say, buddy. You must have had some sort of powerful weapon to take Magneto out all by yourself."

Toppo silently looked at the chair Shabon had been tied to and glanced at the Master Sword. He turned back to Dan, smiled and nodded.

**(The Arena) **

Balrog landed on his back painfully, but managed to get to his feet. The black boxer's opponent, Ally Gator, stood ready for him.

Balrog was suddenly engulfed in a white light, and when it settled, Axl stood in his place. "Okay. That didn't really work." He sighed. "Okay. Let's try something else."

Another flash of light happened, and this time, Axl had turned into Heavy D!. However, the instant he did, Brian Battler came in and punched him in the face, making him turn back to normal again.

"What was that for?" Axl asked.

"You impersonate my homeboy again and I'll set you up for an American Supernova!" Brian threatened as he stormed off to resume his fight with Jeffry McWild.

Ally couldn't help but laugh at the sight. Axl glared at her. "What's so funny?" He asked.

"You." Ally replied simply before chuckling again.

"I'll show you!" Axl threatened as he rushed at Ally and started firing from his pistols again.

Ally suddenly saw that her opponent was shooting again, but it was too late for her to do anything. The pellets slammed into her body, making Ally extremely thankful that Axl wasn't using real bullets (which SSBFreak and Unknown1 had forbidden).

Once he had shot several times, Axl stopped shooting and rushed at Ally, only to receive a strong uppercut to the chin. Axl flew back several feet and landed on his back.

"So that's the way you want to play, eh?" Ally asked, cracking her knuckles (which was very hard to do while wearing boxing gloves). "Okay. Let's see you put up with THIS!"

Ally rushed at Axl and delivered several extremely fast punches to his face. Once she finished, Axl stepped back and shook his head. "What the heck was that?" He asked, surprised at the speed of Ally's flurry.

"Ah, you like that, don't you?" Ally asked. "That was what the people in my node call a 'Triple-Link Combo'. Makes all of our punches extremely fast and almost impossible to block." Ally smirked and charged at Axl again, her gloves glowing a bright gray.

"What the heck?" Axl asked once he saw the hue the gloves were glowing. That was all he could get out before Ally punched him in the face.

However, Ally's punch was amplified with her node's 'Anvil Powerup', which she always had on her. The increased force of Ally's punch sent Axl flying out of the ring and out of the tournament.

Axl landed in Timesplitters, where he made short work of the evil, alien race before the game heroes arrived.

Kasumi and Samus were still fighting, and looked like they were evenly matched. Kasumi tried another energy wave, but Samus saw her attack coming and stepped to the side. The Tinto soldier then swung his sword lightly, but Kasumi ducked under his blade, then swept his feet out from underneath him, bringing Samus to the canvas.

Groaning in pain, Samus got to his feet, clutching his side. Quickly shaking off the attack, Samus rushed forward, only to receive a socked foot to the face. Grabbing his nose, Samus stepped back, but like before, he shook the attack off.

"Okay. I think it's about time I pulled out all the stops here." Samus said as he charged his Wind Rune.

Suddenly, Akari Ichijo jumped in and kicked him in the back. Samus fell to the canvas, but got to his feet. "What your problem?" He asked.

"Duh! I'm looking for a fight!" Akari replied.

"I'm sort of in the middle of a fight right now." Samus said, eyes narrowed.

"So? Can't you drop it and fight me?" Akari asked. "I'm bored!"

"Can't you just go find someone else?" Samus asked, trying not to get mad. Thankfully, Kasumi had stopped attacking once Akari had jumped in.

"No, because I want to fight you." Akari said. "I would have gone for that blonde mercenary friend of yours, but he's been eliminated already."

"Okay, tell you what. If you survive this, I'll fight you." Samus replied, waving his arm in the air.

"Uh…Survive what?"

Unfortunately for Akari, during the time she had been talking to Samus, his Wind Rune had become fully charged. A huge twister appeared where Akari was standing and lifted her off the ground. Akari spun around for about ten seconds before getting flung from the twister and ejected from the ring. Samus then went back to fighting Kasumi.

Akari landed in Maniac Mansion, where she spent the next ten minutes running from a strange-looking monster.

Brian Battler and Jeffry McWild clashed again, grappling each other with hopes of gaining the upper hand. However, both large men ended up at a stalemate (again) and broke away from each other.

Deciding to try something different, Jeffry swung his leg at Brian, aiming for the side of his head. Brian ducked under Jeffry's foot, then lunged at him in a flying tackle. Brian's head connected with Jeffry's stomach, knocking the fisherman to the ground.

Jeffry slowly got to his feet. "You have more skill than people give you credit for, I must admit." He said. "I am surprised as to why your team hasn't been invited back to the fighting scene in such a while."

"Not popular enough." Brian sighed. "At least not in Japan. Believe me, we've been trying to get back into the fighting scene since 1998."

"Well, maybe you'll get some popularity here." Jeffry offered as he kicked at Brian again. "After all, both of your friends have done well here."

"Yeah. You're right on that" Brian replied as he blocked Jeffry's kick with his shoulder pad. "Well, I guess we should finish our fight here."

"I suppose so." Jeffry nodded.

Brian jumped away from Jeffry and crouched low. "Prepare for my ultimate attack, then!" He warned. "The American Supernova!"

Brian charged forward, shoulder pad first. Jeffry jumped to the side and allowed Brian to pass by, but wasn't expecting Brian to do an about face and charge into him from behind. Jeffry was plowed over, knocking him to the canvas as Brian raced past.

Slowly getting to his feet, Jeffry narrowed his eyes at Brian. "Okay. You are deeply asking for it, friend." He said as he rushed Brian again.

However, Brian was prepared, delivered a high kick/punt to Jeffry's face. Jeffry was sent flying backwards, towards the ropes. Brian charged forward.

Jeffry got to his feet and suddenly felt a turnbuckle behind him. {I'd better be careful. I'm pretty close to the edge of the ring.} He thought.

Looking ahead, Jeffry was prepared to take out Brian. However, he saw that Brian was already stampeding towards him.

Jeffry wasn't given the chance to block. In a rising uppercut with his shoulder pad, Brian sent Jeffry out of the ring.

Jeffry landed in Monkey Island 3, where he joined a trio of singing pirates in annoying Guybrush Threepwood.

Rolf got to his feet and looked around. He had been tossed around several times and received more punishment than he dished out, but he was still standing (Rolf didn't bother to wonder how. He was just thankful that he was). Scanning the arena with his robotic eyepiece, Rolf saw that several fighters had already been eliminated, giving him some elbow room to move around.

Deciding to try another fight, Rolf charged ahead blindly, hoping to strike someone.

Of course, in a brawl, running ahead blindly is a very stupid thing to do. Rolf found this out when Karin saw him coming and spiked him into the ground. The blonde girl then went back to fighting Fox McCloud.

Once again, Rolf slowly got to his feet. "Man. This almost seems routine." He muttered as he looked around again. "Okay. She wasn't the best target. Maybe I should try someone that looks weaker."

Setting his sights on Roll, Rolf rushed ahead again, pulling his fist back and preparing to knock the robot girl out of the arena.

Roll's advanced senses picked up the footsteps coming in her direction. The robot girl spun around and saw Rolf running at her. Seeing that he wasn't as scary as others, Roll didn't bother screaming, but that didn't stop her from hysterically pressing a button on her arm cannon, firing a Rock Ball from the barrel and kicking it into the oncoming Galaxy Fighter's face.

"Gah!" Rolf said as he clutched his face. "That hurt!"

Roll wasted no time in running behind the distracted Rolf and kicking him to the ground. Roll then pushed at Rolf's side, pushing the Galaxy Fighter towards the ropes. Before Rolf could get that chance to recover from Roll's attack, she had already pushed him underneath the ropes and out of the arena. The blonde robot girl sighed in relief.

Rolf landed in War of the Monsters, right in the middle of a battle between a lizard, an ape, a rock monster and a huge bug. We'll leave it to your imagination to figure out what happened.

**(Dome; Storage Room) **

The storage room was huge and spacious, which was a given due to the size of the entire building. The entire room was even lit up, allowing people to see what was around them. However, what people would have seen would have been Amy Guile tied to a chair, three goons guarding her.

Mystique growled. "How did I get paired up with such incompetents?" She asked herself.

Mukuro narrowed his undead eyes. "Hey! I resent that!" He shouted back.

"Good. Now that I know your hearing works, I assume that you're aware that I'm in charge here." Mystique replied.

"What? Why you?" Mukuro asked.

"Because you're an idiot and he clearly can't lead!" Mystique shouted back, pointing at Jin Chonshu, whom was staring off into space with a brainwashed look in his eyes.

"Well, just because you're the smartest doesn't mean you're a good leader!" Mukuro defended. "If you think I'm just going to-"

"Just stop, will you?" Amy shouted. "Your bickering is giving me a headache!"

Mystique and Mukuro looked at Amy, at each other and muttered a 'sorry' before turning and walking away from each other.

Amy sighed. _"If only Bison hadn't taken away my pocket knife."_ She thought. _"I'd be able to cut through these ropes and get out of here."_ Letting out another sigh in defeat, Amy sulked. _"Well, I guess that the only thing I can do is wait for someone to rescue me." _

Suddenly, a circular shadow slid under the door. A purple figure extended from it, revealing Vivian.

Mystique saw this. "Hey, you!" She shouted.

Vivian quickly grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, unlocking the door and opening it at the same time. Guile, Chonrei and Reed rushed into the room to join the Shadow Siren.

Amy's eyes lit up. "Daddy!" She shouted in glee.

"Amy!" Guile replied as he rushed towards his daughter. However, before he could get very far, Mystique stepped in his way, aiming her gun at him. Guile narrowed his eyes. "Get out of my way." He said coldly.

"Make me." Mystique replied.

"Fine." Guile said, jumping Mystique and knocking her away from Amy.

Mukuro drew his swords and jumped at Guile, hoping to remove a limb. Before he got there, another sword appeared and slammed into his weapons, stopping the attack. Mukuro looked at the owner of the sword and saw an angry Reed staring back.

"Not a very smart choice." Reed warned, getting into is stance.

"Chonshu, snap out of it!" Chonrei pleaded with his brainwashed brother, whom was advancing on him. "Come on! I'm your brother! Don't you remember me?"

"Target poses a threat to Master Bison's plan." Chonshu drone. "Target must be eliminated."

"Looks like you can't get through to him." Vivian sighed. "We've got no choice, Chonrei. We need to fight him."

Chonrei sighed and got into his stance. "Forgive me, brother."

**(The Arena) **

Karin's foot smashed against Fox's face, knocking the furry pilot backwards. Fox quickly retaliated by lunging at the schoolgirl and kicking her in the stomach several times. Fox then added in a backflip, kicking Karin in the jaw and sending her flying back.

Although the fall hurt her a bit, Karin quickly got to her feet. Dusting her dress off, Karin rushed Fox again, backhanding him with one hand and punching him with the other.

Fox landed on his back and jumped to his feet. "This is getting annoying." He muttered. "Looks like I'll have to stop fooling around."

Karin laughed as Fox held his ears in pain (he really hated being a dog sometimes). "You still think you can beat me? That's rich! Well, let's see what you can do."

Uncovering his ears, Fox nodded and crouched low. "Okay. Don't say you didn't ask for it." He warned.

Fox shot through Karin in a Fox Illusion, knocking the blonde girl into the air. But Fox wasn't finished, because he quickly followed up with two more Fox Illusions, sending her into the air each time he hit.

By the time she landed, Karin was in a lot of pain. Even still, she refused to admit defeat to an animal and stood up. "You call that an attack? That was nothing!" She said. "Come on! Bring it!"

Fox narrowed his eyes and raced at Karin delivering a hard kick to her stomach. Although she was in pain, Karin didn't show it and instead punched Fox in the chest, knocking him away from her.

Seeing her chance at elimination, Karin ran at Fox in an attempt to throw him from the arena.

Unfortunately for her, Fox saw her coming. Stepping to the side, Fox allowed Karin to run past him. As Karin struggled to regain her footing for her miss, Fox booted her from the arena.

Karin landed in Super Mario World, where she cleared a Ghost House with her high-pitched laugher.

Spiderman swung across the arena on a webline and kicked Blue Mary in the stomach, sending her flying ten feet back. Mary landed on her back, but was quick to get to her feet.

"Okay! Time for me to bring out the big guns, you mutant freak!" Mary said.

"Ouch. Lady, that really hurt." Spiderman replied. "We mutant freaks have feelings too, you know."

Mary didn't respond. She simply rushed at Spiderman and jumped at him. The move took Spiderman by surprise, and Mary's foot landed against his face. Spiderman stepped back a bit, but quickly recovered and fired a webline at Mary's legs, pulling them out from under her.

Spiderman watched as Mary got to her feet again. "You've got determination, lady. I'll give you that." He said. "But why won't you just give up?"

"Not my style." Mary said, smirking. "And besides, I can still beat you."

"Well, I don't think I agree with you on that, but let's see what you can do."

Mary advanced on Spiderman again, but this time, he was ready. Mary attempted a flying kick again, but Spiderman caught her foot and tossed her away from him. Mary landed on her foot and struggled to regain her balance again. Once she did, she rushed Spiderman, diving at his legs.

This time, Mary was successful. Mary took Spiderman's legs out, knocking him down. While Spiderman was on the ground, Mary walked over to him, kneeled by his face and started punching him.

However, Spiderman recovered in mid-punch and kicked Mary off of him. The blonde policewoman landed on her back.

"I'd better finish this." Spiderman said as he walked over to Mary.

Mary looked up, and the last thing she saw was Spiderman firing a line of webbing at her face.

It took Spiderman about fifteen seconds to encase Mary in a cocoon of webbing. Once he finished, Spiderman picked her up and threw her over the ropes.

Mary landed in Metal Slug. Fio ran by and, thinking Mary to be a prisoner of war, released her from her cocoon. However, she was surprised when she didn't get anything for doing so.

"Ack!" Choi shouted as he jumped out of the way. Both of the Ice Climbers' mallets spiked into the canvas where he had been standing.

"That was a little too close for comfort." Choi sighed as he jumped at Popo.

Popo received a hard kick to the face and stepped back. Nana saw him get hurt and swung her mallet again, striking Choi out of revenge and sending him flying away. "You okay, Popo?" She asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Popo replied.

"Good, because here he comes again!"

Popo looked ahead and saw Choi running at the two Eskimos. "Get ready, Nana!"

"But what if we can't beat him?" Nana asked.

"We took out that huge guy in the last section!" Popo pointed out. "This guy is our size! We'll have no trouble!"

"Well, since you put it THAT way…"

The two Eskimos charged into battle together and swung their mallets at Choi. The clawed midget jumped over the two and vanished from sight.

"Where'd he go?" Nana asked, looking around.

"Maybe he accidentally jumped out of the arena." Popo suggested.

"Not likely!"

The two turned and saw Choi perched on a turnbuckle. The clawed Korean leapt from it and dove at the two siblings, clawing at them at the same time. The two Eskimos, taken aback by the powerful attack, were sent flying towards the ropes. Choi rushed after them and finished the job, kicking them out at the same time.

The Ice Climbers landed in Space Quest, where they hid in the shadows for the ten minutes from the armed soldiers chasing Roger Wilco around.

Back in the arena, the ten remaining fighters looked at each other one last time before continuing the battle as the final ten fighters in the tournament. Captain Falcon, the longest runner in the ring, was breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath. Fox pulled out his blaster and checked it over a couple of times to make sure it was working properly. Brian stood straight and rotated his head a couple of times before getting back into his stance. Ally Gator was looking pretty fresh, but was still wondering if she would be able to go on any further. Kasumi, surprised at how well she had done, eyed Captain Falcon, seeing him as the biggest threat. Roll, on the other hand, was looking back and forth between Falcon and Brian, nervously wondering who was more dangerous. Rimururu didn't look much more confident, and nervously eyed Choi, whom had just eliminated the Ice Climbers. Spiderman stood to the side of the ring, preparing to get out of dodge if forced to. Lastly, Samus had his sword drawn and was prepared to take anyone on, seeing how it was anyone's game now.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Brian shouted.

That was like a starting bell for everyone, because after Brian shouted that, the fighting started again, beginning the battle for the championship.

**RESULTS**

RIMURURU (SS)

BRIAN BATTLER (KOF98)

SPIDERMAN (MC)

KASUMI TODOH (KOF)

FOX MCCLOUD (SSB)

SAMUS (S3)

ROLL (MM)

CAPTAIN FALCON (SSB)

ALLY GATOR (B&B)

CHOI BOUNGE (KOF)

**(ELIMINATED)**

JACQUES (S3)

ICE CLIMBERS (SSB)

KARIN (SFA3)

BLUE MARY RYAN (FF)

AXL (MMX7)

RYUJI YAMAZAKI (FF)

AKARI ICHIJO (LB)

JEFFRY MCWILD (VF)

RAVEN (T5)

ROLF (GF)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**Shabon's Rescue" **

TOPPO (with the Master Sword) (S3) _**vanquishes**_ MAGNETO (MC)

Eliminations: Rimururu, Brian, Spiderman, Kasumi, Fox, Samus, Roll, Captain Falcon, Ally and Choi, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: Billy Kane (8), Rainbow Mika (8), King (7), Xigbar (6), Bruce Irvin (6), Roll (5), Captain Falcon (5)


	44. Section Twenty Results B

**(Mute City; Dr. Clash's Bar) **

Dr. Clash, an F-Zero participant himself, owned a bar, one that many of the other racers visited on a daily basis. Normally, he was steady, but tonight, the night of the tournament, most of the other racers had showed up to watch the show on Clash's TV that he had hanging above the counter.

Everyone was going about their usual business, occasionally taking a look at the screen to see how things were going. However, the instant Captain Falcon's name was announced, everyone turned their attention to the screen. It had taken longer than expected for Falcon to make his entrance, so people were starting to bet on how well he'd do.

Right now, the person with the most money from the bets was Super Arrow, because he had great faith in the captain. Seeing Falcon get several eliminations surprised some, but everyone was intent on seeing if he could actually win now, considering that it was now down to the last ten fighters.

"Come on, Falcon." Super Arrow said with a smirk, folding his arms. "Show these guys what you've got."

**(Hotel; Nakoruru's Room) **

After getting eliminated, Nakoruru was feeling a little drowsy, so she had gone to her room to lay down and watch the rest of the tournament from there. However, before her sister had even entered the arena, Nakoruru had fallen asleep.

"Zzzzzz…Galford…Zzzzzz….Save me from….Earthquake…Zzzzzzz…" Nakoruru mumbled.

A few minutes later, Nakoruru awakened slightly. Sitting up, Nakoruru stretched and glanced at the TV casually. Her eyes widened when she saw her sister in the ring as one of the last ten fighters in the tournament.

Seeing Rimururu still in the arena made Nakoruru wake up completely, moving to sit at the edge of her bed to watch her fight.

"Make me proud, dear sister." Nakoruru said, slightly quiet. "You just need to hold on a bit longer."

**(Dr. Light's Lab) **

Megaman shook his head with a sigh, sitting on a table. "I thought you said that this would make Roll forget about being a battle robot, Dr. Light." He told his creator. "Look at how well Roll's done! If anything, this will just make her want to become a fighter that much more!"

Dr. Light sighed a rubbed his temples. "Indeed. I was completely in the wrong for allowing Roll to go to this." The good doctor said. "I was thinking that Roll wouldn't last this long and lose interest in fighting Dr. Wily's robots."

"Well, now what do we do?" Megaman asked.

"I'm afraid we can do very little." Dr. Light replied. "If Roll still wants to be a fighting robot after this, I'm afraid there's not much we can do to change her mind."

As Light and Megaman continued to watch the tournament, a lone figure was standing outside, looking in through a window. He watched the TV and saw Roll eliminate a few people.

Bass stared at Roll intently. "Wow. She's actually kinda cute when she's fighting people."

**(Star Wolf HQ) **

Leon returned from the training room and saw Wolf and Panther still watching the tournament. After seeing Falco go through his 'Leon Stage' earlier that night, the real Leon had spent most of the night in the training room, taking out his aggression on dummies. When he returned, the tournament was almost over and Wolf seemed more interested in the tournament than before.

"You calm, now?" Panther asked with a smirk.

"Shut up, furball." Leon growled. "What's up with Wolf?"

"Fox McCloud was the last entry in the tournament." Panther replied. "They're now down to the last ten fighters and McCloud is one of them."

"Uh…Huh…And Wolf in interested in this…Why?" Leon asked again.

"Fox is the only one in the galaxy worthy enough for me to call my rival." Wolf replied without taking his eyes off the screen. "If he doesn't do well here, I shall be extremely disappointed in him."

Leon paused for a second, then shrugged. "Okay, Wolf. Whatever you say."

**(Dome; Hallway) **

D!, Lucky, Chang, Ryoko and Sagat continued to race through the dome in an attempt to find their goals quickly. The group had remained silent ever since Jack's stunt a few minutes earlier, but that was mainly because they were a little worried about him.

"Are you sure Jack's gonna be okay?" Ryoko asked.

"Against Ash Crimson?" Chang asked with a laugh. "Fear not."

Lucky, in the meantime, looked at D!. "I sure hope Brian's having a good time, at least." He said.

D! nodded. "He's probably enjoying himself, sitting up in the stands and stuffing his face with popcorn." He mused.

"You got that right, D!."

Eventually, the group came upon a hallway splitting off in two different directions. D! looked back an forth between the two.

"Okay, I think Vivian said that this hallway would take us to King's brother." D! said, pointing down the left halway.

"Okay. Sagat, Chang and I will go down there then." Lucky nodded.

"Be careful." Sagat warned D!. "Bison is no pushover."

D! nodded. "Thanks, man. Ryoko and I will be careful."

With that, the group split off, going in the two different directions.

**(Parker Household) **

Mary Jane Parker whistled a tune as she entered the house after a long day's work. Mary Jane hung up her coat and put her keys away as she walked into the living room. However, once she glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, her eyes widened and her whistling stopped.

"Oh! The tournament Peter entered!" Mary Jane said in realization as she rushed over to the TV and switched it on. Mary Jane quickly sat down and watched the rest of the fight. She was relieved to see her husband still in the arena, meaning that she could still see him eliminate some people, even if it was down to the final ten.

"Thank goodness. I thought I missed him." Mary Jane said in relief as she continued to watch.

Mary Jane watched Peter fighting off the large football player and smiled. "Come on, honey. Finish things up and win this." She said.

**(Southtown) **

A lone figure walked down a sidewalk, his head low. People were walking around and cars were driving by, but that was to be expecting in a busy and hectic city like Southtown. The figure didn't seem to have a destination, as he seemed to be more wandering around then anything.

However, as the man was approaching a video store, he saw a group of people gathering around the front window, watching on of the TVs. Because it was night, the man raised an eyebrow, wondering what was so interesting.

"What's going on?" He asked.

Someone in the crowd turned to him. "The big tournament going on is almost over! It's at the final ten!" He replied.

The man took a glance at one of the TVs in the window and his eyes widened slightly when he saw Kasumi Todoh in the arena.

A couple of seconds passed and tears found their way to Ryuhaku Todoh's eyes. "Kasumi, my daughter…" He whispered. "You are making me proud."

**(Eliminated Seating) **

To any normal person, Kim Kaphwan was a psychotic soldier of justice, wanting to reform criminals by beating the living daylight out of them. But to the person that actually knew about him…

…Never mind. He was a psychotic soldier of justice to them as well.

Kim would have normally thought that Chang's success in the arena would have been thanks to the rigorous training he had given the giant man. However, because of his apparent memory loss, Chang had become an even more insane justice fanatic than Kim was, and Kim just couldn't find a way to take credit for what Chang had done.

And now Choi was still in the arena, one elimination to his name and in the final ten. Well, nothing seemed to be wrong with Choi, so Kim didn't have a problem with taking credit for it.

"I am extremely proud of Choi." Kim said, arms folded. "And just think. Because of my rigorous training, Choi managed to get that elimination."

Sitting around him was everyone from the Galaxy Fight node (except Musafar, whom was still wandering around with the malfunctioning Gadget Z), whom instantly glared at him.

"EXCUSE me?" Rolf asked. "You're taking credit for HIS elimination when you yourself, the 'master' of the style, didn't get ANY?"

"I don't believe you!" G. Done added. "Their success had nothing to do with you! The first one's mind was snapped and the second one hasn't done ANYTHING similar to your style!"

"You are a very bad man!" Roomi shouted.

"Let's get him!" Rolf shouted.

Everyone instantly jumped Kim, forming a huge fight cloud. Everyone else sitting around ignored this.

"It's about time someone shut him up." Kyo sighed. Benimaru nodded.

**(New York; Training Room) **

A blonde boxer punched a bag hanging from the ceiling several times. After finishing, he stepped away and looked at the clock hanging o the wall.

"It's getting kinda late." The blonde boxer, whom went under the name 'Kid USA', mused as he wiped his forehead. "I guess that's enough training for tonight."

Kid USA walked over to the TV and turned it on. His sister Ally had told him that she had gone to this tournament in another node to watch and he decided to see what it was all about. As the TV turned on, Kid USA took a sip of water from a bottle.

"ALLY GATOR!" A voice announced on screen.

Kid USA promptly spat out his water. "ALLY?" He asked

Indeed, there was his sister walking down to the arena. Kid USA had no idea what Ally was doing in the ring, but ever since he turned the set on, he refused to take his eyes off the screen.

Kid USA ended up watching the tournament the rest of the time, watching Ally score an elimination. A smirk found its way to his face. "You can finish this, Ally." He said. "Go all the way."

**(Budehuc Castle) **

Thanks to an accidental sneeze courtesy of the elder Viki, a mystic screen had appeared in the bar, allowing the residents to view the fight. Everyone had been amazed at their surprising amount of success in the ring, especially after seeing someone like Watari manage four eliminations.

Anne, the bartender of Budehuc, was particularly interested in watching Samus fight when he entered the ring. Watching Samus get an elimination made Anne feel happy, and she was already pretty happy with all the business she had been getting throughout the night.

Beecham saw his fellow Karayan watching the fight on the mystic screen and made his way over. "You seem interested in watching Samus fight, Anne." The elder man chuckled. "It's almost as if you have a crush on him."

Anne looked at Beecham and blushed. "Is it THAT obvious?"

"Yeah. Even when Samus is here, you seem a little timid around him." Beecham replied.

This just made Anne blush even more furiously. "Uh…You won't tell anyone, right?"

"I'm afraid a lot of people already know."

Anne sighed as she looked towards the screen again, figuring that she may as well cheer for Samus again.

**(Announcer's Booth) **

SSBFreak grabbed the phone by his desk and dialed a number on it. After a few seconds, he spoke. "Hey, Jay! I know you guys at the merchandise department have been making a lot of shirts for us, especially after I ordered all those 'Koehan' shirts. However, I think I'll need one more set of shirts." He said. After a couple more seconds, he started talking again. "How about plain white shirts with the entire USA Sports Team on the front? Great! Thanks a bunch, man! You guys are the best!"

Unknown1 watched as SSBFreak hung up the phone. "Why shirts of the Sports Team?" He asked. "I mean, we've already ordered shirts of 'The Koehan', Gabby Jay, Mario fighting Sonic and a stare-down between Ryu and Terry Bogard, among several others." He said, counting off his fingers.

"Well, when you think about it, the Sports Team is pretty much the only KOF team here where all three members got at least one elimination."

"Huh?"

"Kyo's team was eliminated pretty easily, and Ash's team didn't fare much better. Terry, Athena and Yuri were the only ones to score an elimination for their respective teams, and Kim Kaphwan fell pretty quickly, while his students did better than he did." SSBFreak explained. "Leona failed to get an elimination for the Ikari Warriors, while Kula was the only one on K's team to eliminate someone."

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Unknown1 nodded. "The Sports Team has been full of surprises tonight."

"You said it."

**(The Arena) **

Ducking a kick from Fox McCloud, Roll rushed across the arena in an attempt to get to her potential opponent. Roll ran past Captain Falcon (giving him a swift kick to the shin as she did) and Samus until she finally saw Choi Bounge kicking Rimururu away. Seeing her chance, Roll charged her Roll Buster and fired it into the small man's back.

Choi flew forward several feet, but managed to land in an upright position. Turning around, Choi saw Roll advancing on him and smirked. "So the lady robot wants a piece of me, eh?" He chuckled. "Okay. Let's do this."

With that, Choi lunged at Roll and slashed his claws wildly. Roll saw Choi coming ad jumped to the side, giving the midget a kick to the head and making him recoil that much more.

Choi was quick to recover, and proved this by leaping at Roll and kicking her in the face, making her stagger back.

"You seem to be picking up the pace a bit." Choi remarked.

"Of course." Roll nodded as she pressed a button on her arm cannon. "It's the final ten after all."

Choi smirked. "All the more a reason for me to make it to the final two." He said as he launched himself at Roll again.

Thinking quickly, Roll deposited another Rock Ball on the canvas and gave it a kick. This one bounced off Choi's head like usual, but instead of destroying itself, the Rock Ball ricocheted off the small man and flew up to the beams hanging above the arena. The ball bounced off one of the beams and flew back into the arena, where it slammed into the back of Brian Battler's head.

Roll quickly chose to ignore this and rushed Choi again. Choi snapped out of his daze and slashed at Roll once. Roll took the attack and flew back about three feet before landed on her back. Seeing his chance to eliminate her, Choi advanced.

However, as Choi got close enough, Roll sprang to life, kicking the small man in the face and jumping to her feet. Choi stepped back, holding his head.

"You've got amazing skill. I can't deny that." Roll said sympathetically. "However, in order for me to stay in the ring, you have to be eliminated."

With that, Roll rushed at Choi, picked him up and threw him out of the arena, marking the first elimination of the final ten.

Choi landed in Zelda: Twilight Princess. He saw Link in wolf form, thought he was an attacking monster and jumped in for the kill.

…Yeah. Stupid mistake, eh?

"Oy. What the heck was that?" Brian asked, looking around as he rubbed the back of his head, where Roll's Rock Ball had bounced off

Ally Gator shrugged. "I dunno. I wasn't really paying attention because I was mainly focusing on avoiding that shoulder pad of yours because when you attack with that thing, it's really hurts." Rubbing her shoulder, Ally continued. "You know? I've played KOF before and I'm surprised at why your team hasn't been invited back. If this is how all three of you fight, then you deserve a second chance."

Brian smirked. "I appreciate the gesture, lady." He said. "Heck, doing this tournament may give us enough spotlight for people to notice us again."

"The same goes for me." Ally replied as she lashed out her fist at Brian (he dodged it). "After the game I was in released, the gang and I were forgotten. I just hope I can get some more people interested by fighting here."

"Hey, we've each gotten an elimination." Brian said as he kicked at Ally's stomach (she blocked it). "Already, we've done better than some of the more popular fighters here."

"You've got that right." Ally nodded.

"Hey, you seem like an okay lady." Brian said. "After this is over, I'm gonna fine my homeboys D! and Lucky and go out for a drink. You wanna tag along?"

Ally smirked. "Why not?" She asked. "I'll try to find you guys at the award ceremony after the tournament, but before that, we need to finish our fight."

"No problem." Brian said, crouching low and lunging at Ally in an American Supernova.

Ally quickly held up her hands and Brian torpedoed straight into them. Pushing against the force, Ally shoved back and spun the football player around, making Brian shoot off in the other direction.

Brian saw that he wasn't going to right way anymore and stopped himself. Turning around, he saw Ally rushing at him. "Man. She's stronger than I thought." Brian mused. "The only other one able to parry my American Supernova was Chang Koehan."

Ally thrust her fist at Brian. The football payer easily caught the punch, but wasn't prepared for Ally to continue the attack with her other fist, nailing him in the side of the head.

Brian stepped to the side a couple of steps and Ally jumped onto his back from behind. As Brian staggered around, Ally repeatedly punched him in the back.

Doing his best to ignore the pain, Brian looked at some of the ropes around the arena. Unable to come up with another plan, Brian charged forward at top speed. Ally stopped attacking to hold onto Brian's jersey.

When Brian got close to the ropes, he stopped running and came to an abrupt halt. Ally, unprepared for this, flew from Brian back and over the ropes.

Brian laughed. "That's two! Now who's next?" Brian stopped when he felt a slight draft. Looking himself over, Brian saw that he was wearing his shoulder pad over top of a blue tee shirt. His jersey was gone, meaning that Ally probably didn't actually let go when she flew from his back.

Seeing as how there wasn't anything he could do, Brian sighed and rushed off.

Ally, still holding onto Brian's jersey, fell headlong into Sonic Riders. Seeing Jet riding by, Ally hijacked his board and sped off.

**(Eiji's Subconscious) **

Eiji Kisaragi wasn't sure if his eyes were closed or not, because he could see nothing but black all around him. Eiji tried moving, because he knew Julia had no chance against the likes of Setsuna, but he couldn't move a single muscle. Eiji found that he wasn't even capable of speaking.

Suddenly, a hue of red light appeared on the left side of his vision while a blue light appeared on his right. Eiji couldn't turn his head to see where the lights were coming from.

"**This is all your fault!"** An angry voice shouted as the red light deepened a bit. **"If you had just given me control, he wouldn't be in this mess!"**

"_I'll admit that I am partially to blame."_ A calmer voice said as the blue light deepened. _"But you are just as much at fault as I am."_

"**WHAT?"** The angry voice raged.

"_You were the one to lash out at me."_ The calm voice continued. _"I was merely acting in self-defense." _

"**Well, we can't go back and change that, now can we?"** The angry voice shouted. **"He's lying in the hallway, unconscious, as that foolish assassin is about to take that woman's life!"**

"_We may not be able to go back, but we CAN do something about the crisis at hand." _

"**And what might THAT be, genius?" **

"_We have to share his body equally. At least for the next few minutes." _

"**And THEN what?" **

"_We must each leave him." _

"**WHAT? Why would I do that, fool?" **

"_Because we have caused him enough pain as it is. Don't you see? In order to make it up to him, it HAS to be done." _

"…**..Fine. I'll admit that we DO owe him for getting us away from those wannabe ninjas." **

"_That's EXACTLY what I want to hear. Now let's get him up! Quickly!" _

"**Right!"**

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Eiji's eyes fluttered open and he found himself getting to his feet. The first thing Eiji felt when he woke up was the fact that he wasn't in pain. It was almost as if the fire and water elements had finally chosen to work together.

Once he had stood up, Eiji looked at his hands and felt the raw power of the elements going through his arms.

"_I…I can control it…"_ Eiji thought.

Suddenly remembering Julia, Eiji turned around. He saw Setsuna holding Julia against the wall, the blade of his sword dangerously close to slitting her throat. Julia looked horrified, but seemed afraid to struggle against the assassin's grip.

Eiji narrowed his eyes. "Hey!"

This caught Setsuna's attention, making the assassin turn his head and take his sword away from Julia.

There stood Eiji, two separate auras of energy flowing around him. His entire left side was emitting a red light and flame-like energy was sprouting from his arm, going from his shoulder all the way to his fingertips. His entire right side was emitting a blue light and drips of water-like energy were dripping from his arm, vanishing the instant they hit the floor. And for the first time the entire night, Eiji looked like he was fully capable of controlling each element.

Julia's eyes widened. "E-Eiji?"

"Get your hands off of her." Eiji said coldly.

Setsuna smirked and did as he was told. "Well, it appears that the elements have decided to come forth." He remarked. "Very well. I'll kill you, and then extract those elements from your body."

Eiji didn't reply and instead walked forward to challenge Setsuna. Eiji hadn't had that many friends in his life, and Julia had proved to be the best friend he could have ever asked for (and he figured he probably didn't even DESERVE). Julia had done so much for him ever since she met him.

And now it was time for Eiji to repay his dept.

**(Hotel; Geese's Room) **

Lilly Kane continued to watch Geese stare off into space with a blank expression. Just seeing him like that broke Lilly's heart. Yes, Geese had been known to be ruthless, but he had always treated Lilly like family, much like how he treated Billy. And now, Geese had been reduced to this, doing whatever Bison told him to.

Although she almost knew the outcome, Lilly tried again. "Geese, please snap out of it!" Lilly begged. "You're stronger than this, Mr. Howard! Please, stop this and come back!"

Alas, her attempts were once again in vain, because Geese didn't respond. Lilly felt tears come to her eyes. "Nothing's going to work." She sobbed as she slumped in the chair she was tied to. "Nothing's going to make him come back."

Suddenly, the door was kicked open. This caught the attention of both Lilly and Geese, as they both watched Joe and Sodom enter the room, the former being responsible for kicking the door in.

Lilly's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of her boyfriend. "Joe?" She asked.

Seeing tears in Lilly's eyes just made Joe angrier. "I'll be with you in a second, Lilly. Just let me beat some sense into Geese!"

"Joe, Bison took over his mind!" Lilly insisted. "If he was thinking straight, he wouldn't have even done this!"

"Then if that's the case, the way to make him snap out of it is to defeat him." Sodom added.

"Well, let's do that, then." Joe said, cracking his knuckles.

"Targets pose a threat to Master Bison's plan." Geese droned. "Targets must be destroyed."

"You ready?" Joe asked Sodom.

"No." Sodom sighed.

"Neither am I." Joe replied. "Let's go!"

**(The Arena) **

Laser bolts shot through the arena going in every direction. It's not like Fox was wanting this, but rather because all of his shots were getting deflected off of Samus' sword. The dark skinned swordsman, being extremely skilled with his weapon, was able to predict Fox's attack pattern out pretty quickly and was definitely proving this.

"The way you keep reflecting my shots is annoying me!" Fox shouted.

"Annoying YOU?" Samus asked. "You're the one who keeps using the one attack! Why don't you try something NEW?"

Fox smirked. "You want new, eh?" He asked as he put his gun away. "Okay. You'll get new."

Fox flew forward in another Fox Illusion. The attack was so quick that it even took a trained swordsman like Samus completely by surprise. Fox didn't go far enough to touch Samus, so when he broke out of his attack, Fox delivered two punches to his stomach, following with several kicks to the face.

Samus stepped back, but quickly recovered. He looked ahead in time to see Fox rushing him again. Thinking quickly, Samus grabbed Fox's hand in mid-punch and threw the young pilot's light frame over his shoulder, making Fox land on his side.

This time, it was Samus to advance, rushing at Fox with his sword drawn. "Time to go, fuzzy!" He shouted as he swung his sword.

Fox did the only thing he could think of in his situation: He held up his blaster and blocked the sword with it. His blaster received a bad-looking scratch, but Fox himself was unharmed. He quickly demonstrated this by kicking the surprised Samus in the face, knocking him back.

"Things are getting down to the wire, now!" Fox shouted. "I'm not going to let you stand in my way of making it to the final two!"

Samus narrowed his eyes. "I beg to differ." He said as he rushed Fox again.

Samus swung his sword, but Fox rolled to the side. Samus, however, was expecting this, and shoved the handle of his sword backwards, striking Fox in the forehead and stunning him.

Turning around, Samus smirked as he grabbed Fox. "Looks like you'll have to settle for eighth." He said as he pitched Fox over the ropes and into the elimination portal.

Fox landed in Animal Crossing. The game's playable character came by and started whacking him with a net, laughing playfully.

Said playable character was then seen running through town with his hat set on fire, screaming in terror.

Captain Falcon, the longest-running fighter still in the arena, attempted a punch at Rimururu. The maiden of ice jumped to the side easily, being much fresher than the hotshot F-Zero racer. Rimururu then proceeded to kick Falcon in the head, knocking him away.

Falcon quickly recovered and lunged at Rimururu in a Raptor Boost. The young girl took the attack and was sent flying several feet away.

"Maybe you should call it a day." Falcon said with a smirk as he watched Rimururu get to her feet. "I mean, isn't it past your bedtime?"

Rimururu glared at Falcon. "You should watch what you say." She warned as she flew forward and struck her opponent with an uppercut, knocking him backwards. "Your words might come back to haunt you. Need I remind you that I'm a lot fresher? So please, just give up now and I won't be forced to use drastic measures!"

Falcon stood up and shook his head to regain his senses. "Yeah, right. I bet that you don't HAVE any drastic measures." Falcon pointed out. "You're a pacifist! Even if you were capable of drastic measures, you'd be so reluctant to use them that you would just go on without them!"

Rimururu sighed. "You leave me no choice, I'm afraid."

With that, Rimururu advanced on Falcon again. However, this time, she waved her hand, sending a wave of ice at the hotshot racer. Falcon's eyes widened as he jumped to the side and allowed the ice wave to fly past him.

However, the attack still managed to land a hit, although it was to Falcon's arm, which he didn't manage to get out of the way in time. The ice wave washed over his hand and when it vanished, everyone stared at Falcon's arm, which was frozen from the hand all the way to the elbow.

Falcon's heart skipped a beat, realizing what could have happened if he didn't avoid the attack at all. Still, he was now down to one arm, and fatigue was starting to weigh him down by now.

Unfortunately, Falcon decided to open his big mouth again. "Okay. So you've got some skills, but I don't need both arms to beat you!" Falcon challenged as he raced forward.

Rimururu narrowed her eyes. "Please forgive me." She said as she swerved to the side and allowed Falcon to pass her. Rimururu then pushed Falcon over the ropes and out of the ring.

Captain Falcon landed on a floating platform of some kind. He stood up and looked around. "Where the heck am I?" He asked himself. Suddenly, the platform he was standing on tilted. Falcon staggered, but managed to keep his balance.

A monkey suddenly chose that time to roll by in a ball, knocking Falcon off the Super Monkey Ball level and sending him falling down towards the lake far, far below.

Back in the arena, Spiderman was swinging around, confusing his current opponent, Brian Battler. Attaching another webline to the rafters, Spiderman swung down and kicked Brian in the chest with both feet, sending the larger man flying away. Brian tried to recover, but Spiderman had come back around and kicked him again, sending him in the opposite direction.

Landing on his back, Brian managed to get to his feet and shook off Spiderman's attack. "Hey, web-head! Come down here and fight me!" Brian challenged, getting frustrated. "Unless you're too chicken to face me!"

That brought Spiderman down. The masked superhero landed gracefully on his feet a foot away from Brian. "Okay. I guessing that you REALLY want a beating now." He said. "Okay. Let's see if you can keep up."

Brian's fist was instantly in Spiderman's face, making him step back.

"Fast enough?" Brian chuckled.

"Eh. Not bad." Spiderman shrugged. "But it's still nothing compared to my stealth."

With that, Spiderman leapt into the air again. Brian looked around for a couple of seconds before Spiderman came crashing down on top of his back, knocking the wind out of him.

"How'd ya like that?" Spiderman asked.

"Get off…My freaking…Back!" Brian growled, shooting into a standing position and launching Spiderman from his back.

Spiderman went flying over the ropes, but quickly fired another webline to a turnbuckle and pulled himself back in, saving himself from elimination.

Brian, however, was under the impression that he had eliminated the superhero, and was thus playing to the crowd. However, Spiderman quickly proved him wrong by jumping in and kicking him in the back.

The American football player slowly got to his feet. "You sure are a tough one to beat." He mused.

"Well, what did you expect?" Spiderman asked. "I have amazing agility and can fire webbing from my wrists."

"Yeah. I gathered that." Brian grumbled.

The two clashed again. Spiderman, feeling confident, swung his arm downwards, attempting to strike Brian's head. However, Brian saw the attack coming and leaned to the side, then punted Spiderman in the stomach.

This made Spiderman grasp his stomach in pain, which made it easy for Brian to kick him out of the arena without having to worry about Spiderman getting back in somehow.

Spiderman landed in Super Mario Bros. 2. He promptly whacked Triclyde with a fist several times defeating him before any of the four heroes showed up to face him.

**(Dome; Storage Room) **

"Sonic Boom!" Guile roared as lashed his arms forward, sending his trademark projectile at Mystique. The shapeshifting mutant quickly avoided the blow easily.

Mystique quickly pressed the barrel of her gun against Guile's forehead. "You'd better watch it, pal." Mystique warned. "I won't hesitate to pull this trigger on a human."

"I'm aware of that." Guile said, his eyes narrowed. He quickly kicked Mystique in the stomach. "And that's also why I didn't hesitate to do that."

Mystique was quick to recover and leapt at Guile, kicking at his face. The American soldier caught Mystique's foot and threw her away, sending her flying into the wall. Guile then rushed at her in an attempt to knock her out.

However, Mystique snapped out of her daze just in time and thrust her foot into the oncoming man's stomach, making him back away from her. Mystique quickly got to her feet and shot an energy shot from her gun into Guile's back, sending him flying away.

"Looks like I've gained the upper hand." Mystique smirked.

Guile ignored his pain and turned. "Allow me to show you otherwise." He growled.

The two rushed each other again. The only thing that kept Guile going was the fact that his daughter needed rescuing and he wasn't about to let her down. By the time he and Mystique reached each other, both fighters had attacked, Guile with a fist and Mystique with a foot. However, both attacks hit, make both Guile and Mystique stagger away from each other.

"You may as well give up now, human!" Mystique shouted. "You have no chance!"

"That's what you think!" Guile roared and charged ahead.

Mukuro was having a grand time, swinging his weapons wildly at Reed. The undead psycho was having such a good time that he failed to notice that Reed was blocking all of his attacks with amazing swordsman skills.

Like Samus still in the ring, Reed was an amazingly skilled swordsman, but unlike Samus, some would consider Reed the better one. This was mainly thought to be the fact that Reed was a full-fledged Tinto soldier, while Samus had come from another town and had to learn the Tinto style.

"I've never had such a blast making mincemeat out of someone!" Mukuro laughed.

Reed raised an eyebrow as he blocked one of Mukuro's swords, then quickly moved his sword behind him to block the second one. "You DO realize that I'm blocking your attacks, right?"

Mukuro paused. "You are?"

"Uh…Yeah." Reed nodded. "What's the matter? Can't you see straight with those bandages over your eyes?"

"Well, now that you mention it, these bandages HAVE been obstructing my view lately." Mukuro mused as he lifted a bandage covering his eyes. However, Reed took this opportunity to give the undead assassin a punch to the face. "Oh, so THAT'S how you want to play, eh?"

"Bring it on." Reed said, eyes narrowed.

"Chonshu, please snap out of it!" Chonrei pleaded as he avoided an energy blast from his younger twin. "I won't fight you like this!"

"You don't have a choice, Chonrei!" Vivian said as she appeared from the floor behind Chonshu and punched him in the back of the head. "He can't hear you!"

"Destroy threats to Master Bison's plan." Chonshu droned. Chonrei still couldn't believe that this almost mechanical voice was coming from his own brother.

Chonrei sighed as he caught Chonshu's hand. "I didn't want to do this, brother. But I really don't have a choice, now."

With that, the older Jin twin lunged at his brother and struck him in the face with an energy blast. This sent Chonshu flying into the wall, but he was quick to get to his feet. The brown-haired fighter rushed Chonrei again, but Vivian quickly stepped in the way and caused the ground underneath Chonshu to explode.

Seeing his chance, Chonrei rushed at Chonshu and delivered a strong punch to his face, sending him flying into the wall.

"Now, Vivian!" Chonrei shouted.

Vivian nodded and snapped her fingers. This time, the explosion that occurred erupted on the wall rather than the floor. The explosion sent Chonshu falling to the ground.

Mystique stepped back, still feeling the effects of Guile's last punch. _"Okay. This human is more skilled than I thought he would be."_ The blue-skinned mutant thought. _"Maybe it's time for me to try a different strategy."_

With that, Mystique stepped forward. Guile watched in surprise as Mystique transformed into an exact likeness of Ken Masters.

Mystique smirked. "There." She said in Ken's voice. "You wouldn't hit your own brother-in-law, would you?"

Seeing Guile smirk and pull his arms back, Mystique's heart dropped.

"Sonic…HURRICANE!"

A huge Sonic Boom emerged from Guile's hands, circling around him and attacking Mystique several times. After the attack finished, Guile punched Mystique in the face several more times, sending her into the wall and knocking her out.

"On the contrary, I've been wanting to knock some sense into Ken for years." Guile replied.

Guile turned around and rushed over to release his overjoyed daughter. Before he got that far, he saw that Chonrei and Vivian had succeeded in defeating Chonshu, as he was out cold. This meant that Bison's grip on his mind would go away when he woke up. Reed, on the other hand, had also managed to win his fight, as Mukuro lay at his feet in a crumpled heap.

"You okay, sweetie?" Guile asked as he untied Amy.

The instant she was free, Amy had her arms around her father, telling Guile all he needed to know. Guile smiled and returned the embrace.

Reed sighed in relief. "We actually did it."

Vivian nodded as Chonrei was helping a recovered Chonshu to his feet. "I'm just as surprised as you are, Reed. I just hope that everyone else was just as successful."

**(Dome; Roof) **

"_Why the heck did Bison choose the ROOF to be one of the locations?"_ Rugal thought bitterly. _"It's so cold up here!"_

Indeed, Rugal was right. Because of the height of the building, the wind was much stronger on the roof, making it feel that much colder. Rugal looked and saw that Rhino and the brainwashed Bruce Irvin would agree with him, as they both looked cold themselves. Jan, King's brother, sat tied to a chair several feet away, shivering.

Rugal, being Rugal, couldn't care less for how the boy felt. It was his own fault for not choosing to wear a sweater, after all.

Rhino, on the other hand, seemed to have a larger heart, as he felt sorry for the kid. He had to admit that if there was a free coat available, he would have draped it over the kid's shoulders. But there wasn't anything around, so there was nothing Rhino could do.

"How much longer do we have to stay up here?" Rhino asked.

"Not long, I hope." Rugal sighed as he looked at his watch. "Bison said to keep him up here until the tournament finishes. Give it about ten more minutes and we should be good."

"Fine."

Suddenly, the door leading down the stairway to the dome opened up. Lucky Glauber, Chang Koehan and Sagat emerged.

"Man. What the heck was Bison THINKING?" Lucky said, panting after the long run up the stairs. "The roof is a horrible place to put someone!"

"Tell me about it." Rugal muttered before facing the three 'heroes'. "I see that you're here to save the boy."

"That's right." Sagat growled, staring Rugal into the eye (which was something very few people could do). "So hand him over and no one gets hurt."

Rugal chuckled. "So you want to die? Very well."

"Sagat, I'll take him." Lucky said. "I know how he fights. You don't."

Sagat stood in silence before nodding. "Okay. Just don't get yourself killed, Glauber. I respect your skills." He said.

Lucky smirked. "Thanks, man." With that, he turned to Rugal. "Okay, Berenstien. Time for round two!"

Sagat turned and his good eye widened. There stood Bruce Irvin, an emotionless, brainwashed look in his eyes. "Bruce." The taller man breathed. "How could you let Bison do this to you?"

Rhino looked in time to see a huge wrecking ball swinging down at him. The muscled man rushed out of the way as Chang's weapon crashed into the roof.

"You foul villain!" Chang roared. "It is time for 'The Koehan' to unleash his mightiest evil-thwarting moves!"

Rhino raised an eyebrow. "Man. This guy's crazy." He said as he got ready for a fight.

**(The Arena) **

Samus ducked as Kasumi Todoh's hand shot above his head. The blue-haired girl quickly made up for her missed attack, sending her foot into Samus' stomach.

It was now down to the final five and people were trying as hard as they could to stay in this. Both Kasumi and Samus were showing this with the fierceness and power of their attacks against each other, because they wanted to make it to the finals with as little effort as possible.

Deciding to try again, Samus lashed out with his sword. Kasumi gracefully avoided the attack and quickly thrust her palm at Samus' face. The dark-skinned swordsman leaned to the side, then gave Kasumi a quick punch to the face, making her step back.

Quickly shaking off the attack, Kasumi narrowed her eyes. "It is time that I stopped messing around." She said as she charged forward again, lashing out with her hands.

Samus saw the attack coming and rolled to the side. After breaking out of his roll, Samus swung his sword, hoping to do some damage.

Kasumi got off extremely lucky. Had the sword been over two inches, Kasumi would have gotten a very bad cut in the back, but instead, Samus' sword only made a long tear in her floor-length skirt. Kasumi didn't have time to feel relieved, because Samus was on her again, swinging his sword.

Thinking quickly, Kasumi jumped back and swung her hands downwards, sending her father's patented energy wave at the Tinto soldier. Samus took the attack to the face and fell onto his back.

Kasumi sighed and stepped forward. "You have skill, and had you fought someone less-determined, you might have gone further." She said. "Unfortunately, I have to eliminate you now."

As Kasumi bent over to pick Samus up to throw him out, the Tinto soldier snapped to life, rolling out of the way and getting to his feet. "It'll take more than that to take me down!" He said.

Kasumi sighed. "Very well." With that, she pulled her hands into the air. "I apologize in advance."

Before Samus had time to react, Kasumi threw her hands down, sending a huge wave of energy at him. The dark-skinned man took the attack and felt the full force of it, which sent him flying clear out of the arena.

The portal opened up, depositing Samus in a very familiar bar.

"Hey! Look, everybody!" A dark-haired kid said. "It's Samus!"

After the kid (Melville) said that, everyone in the bar turned and saw Samus getting to his feet.

"Heh. That's him alright!" Martha laughed. "And here I was thinking that he'd land somewhere he'd get killed in."

"Martha, don't say that!" Anne scolded the older woman. "Samus, we're all proud not only at how you did in the ring, but how our node performed as a whole!"

"That's right, Master Samus!" Sebastian, a portly man dressed as a butler, pointed out. "It's a pity that no one from our node won, though."

Samus shrugged. "Eh. There's always next time." He paused. "Man. Have I got a story to tell you guys, but I'm afraid I can't tell you now."

"Why not?" Someone in the crowd asked.

"Because I'm only here for ten minutes before I go back to the dome." Samus replied. "That won't be nearly enough time to tell you guys what's been going on."

"Well, have a drink, Samus!" Anne said, holding out a glass. "It's on the house!"

"Oh. Thanks, Anne."

Had anyone been watching close enough, Samus and Anne blushed when they looked at each other.

**(The Arena) **

"Folks, we're now down to our final four!" SSBFreak announced. "Rimururu, Roll, Brian and Kasumi!"

"All four of them want the prize, but only one's going to get it!" Uknown1 added. "But which one will it be?"

"I don't know, but we're about to find out!"

On one side of the arena, Rimururu was fighting Kasumi. On the other side, Roll was fighting Brian. All four fighters were giving it their all in order to make it to the finals. After all, things were so close now and it was really anyone's game.

Kasumi sent an energy wave at Rimururu, but the ice maiden rolled out of the way and delivered a strong uppercut to the blue-haired girl's face.

Holding her chin, Kasumi stepped back, but quickly shook off the attack. "You seem extremely determined here." She said.

"Oh course." Rimururu nodded. "This close, I want to give it my all."

"Well, you're proving to be a challenge." Kasumi said. "Be sure that you don't hold back."

"Only if you don't either."

"Wasn't going to."

The two girls rushed each other again, trading blows. Kasumi started to get the upper hand and delivered a chop to Rimururu's back, making the ice maiden collapse.

However, before Kasumi could move to throw her opponent from the ring, Rimururu shot up and darted at Kasumi, swinging her dagger. Kasumi, taken aback by the sudden ambush, stepped back to avoid the swing.

"Roll Buster!" Roll shouted and fired another ball of energy from her arm cannon. Brian charged forward, shoulder pad first, plowing through the projectile and striking poor Roll in the process. This sent Roll flying back several feet, but the robot girl was quick to stand up.

"So you like to announce the name of your attack to the entire world, eh?" Brian asked. "Okay. Two can play at that game." With that, Brian crouched low. "American Supernova!"

Roll's eyes widened. She had seen the attack and knew what was coming, so she ran to the side and allowed Brian to pass her. Once Brian saw that he wasn't running at Roll anymore, he turned around and started again.

However, Roll had another trick up her sleeve. Pressing a button on her arm cannon, Roll created a ring of floating leaves around her. Brian plowed into Roll, but her Leaf Shield proved to be tougher than it looked, because Brian's attack was stopped just before the shield wore off.

"Okay. I have to admit that was pretty smart." Brian said, standing straight up (and towering over Roll). "However, I need a spot in the finals, and you're standing in my way."

"Then I'm afraid I must teach you not to covet something you can't have." Roll replied with a smirk before kicking Brian in the knee.

This made Brian collapse. "Gah! Why you little-"

That was all Brian could get out before Roll punched him in the face.

Rimururu leapt over Kasumi and landed a hard kick to her back. The blue-haired girl stepped forward, but that didn't stop her. Spinning in place, Kasumi sent another energy wave at Rimururu. The ice maiden wasn't prepared for this one and took the attack to the face, sending her flying backwards. Rimururu landed on her side and watched as Kasumi approached her.

"You have gifted talent." Kasumi sighed. "It's such a pity that you couldn't do better than you did."

"I'm not done, yet!" Rimururu shouted as she stood up.

Kasumi took Rimururu by surprise and grabbed her. "No. I'm afraid that you're wrong." With that, Kasumi tossed Rimururu into the air.

Roll kicked Brian in the stomach, but it did little to stop the football player from swinging his arms down, creating a blue, crescent-shaped wave that surrounded his upper torso. The attack struck Roll in the head, knocking her down.

Brian smirked as he stood over Roll. "Looks like I win, kiddie." He said. "Sorry about this."

Roll, for the first time the entire night, smirked slyly. She aimed her arm cannon at the canvas. "Tornado Hold!" She shouted.

Brian's eyes widened at the small pod that shot from within Roll's arm cannon. From within the pod came a small twister, which quickly lifted Brian into the air.

Everyone in the stands watched in amazement at the two fights.

While Rimururu was in the air, Kasumi pulled her arms up, then thrust them down, sending a huge wave of energy out. It struck the airborne ice maiden, sending her over the ropes and out of the ring. At the same time, Roll fired a Roll Buster at Brian, whom was still inside her tornado, and knocked him out of the ring as well.

Brian and Rimururu landed in a large, open field. After standing up, they looked around.

"Where are we?" Rimururu asked.

Something suddenly tapped against Brian's foot. The football player picked it up and saw that it was a futuristic grenade.

"Oh, HECK no." Brian said as he threw the grenade away, making it land behind a rock. The grenade exploded, sending two Unreal Championship players spiraling into the air.

"Come on!" Brian told Rimururu. "I've seen what happens to those who stand still!"

Picking up the small girl, Brian charged off, kicking a third player at the same time.

Back in the arena, the two remaining fighter looked each other over.

On one side of the arena was Kasumi Todoh. She had several bruises, cuts and scrapes, her outfit was torn in several spots and her hair was a complete mess. People were surprised to see her last this long, but were cheering for her nonetheless.

On the other side of the arena was Roll. Being a robot, she was incapable of receiving bruises or cuts, but her outfit still had some tears, her body had a few dents in it and the green ribbon usually holding her hair in a ponytail was gone completely, letting her long hair droop down past her shoulders.

The two girls stared each other down for a few seconds, each of them breathing heavily. They both respected each other for getting this far, but only one of them could win. With that in mind, Kasumi and Roll rushed each other, starting the battle for the championship.

**(Catsablanca) **

The node was Garfield: Caught in the Act. The level was Catsablanca. In fact, what was going on was taking place on the roofs of a street full of cars going at a hundred Kilometers Per Hour.

Ash Crimson flew back several cars and landed on a flatbed. The white-haired pretty boy stood up and watched as Jack (the World Hero) jumped over a lane to avoid a street sign coming at them.

"So what do you think?" Jack cackled, jumping onto the flatbed with Ash. "I don't think I could ask for a better battlefield."

"I could think of a few better ones." Ash muttered. "But I'm afraid you've reached the end of the line! I'll kill you here and now!"

Jack laughed. "You still mad that I pushed you into here to begin with?" He asked.

"Very."

"Sheesh. You really need to learn to let that stuff go." Jack chuckled.

Ash's eye twitched. "Okay. I'm going to make sure you die in pain for that." He said.

"Bring it, girly-man!" Jack taunted.

**(Dome; Secret Room) **

How Bison was able to keep this room a secret, let alone build it without anyone noticing, D! would never know, but he wasn't one to question such things. He and Ryoko came up to what looked like a normal-looking door, but when they opened it, what lay inside was far from normal.

It looked like a huge machine room, almost what Ryu and Ken would usually find in Bison's base. Computers littered the room, but what caught the most attention was the huge machine in the middle of the room. A laser-like gun was pointing down at an empty chair.

"W-What's that?" Ryoko asked.

"I don't know, but I Have a feeling that where the main target's going to be placed." D! said.

"You'd be right."

D! and Ryoko spun around and saw Bison come into view, an evil smile on his face the entire time.

"You're a sick freak, man!" D! shouted. "Using the poor kids as targets!"

"It had to be done." Bison replied. "It was essential for me to take the kids in order for my plan to succeed."

"Well, you're too late!" Ryoko laughed. "We're here to stop you and you don't even have the main target yet!"

"Oh, but you see? That's where you're wrong." Bison replied. "I DO have the main target."

"Then where is he?" D! asked.

Bison's smirked got even darker. "You fool. You've brought her right to me." He replied.

D!'s eyes snapped opened as he looked at Ryoko, whom was looking just as shocked and terrified. In the blink of an eye, D! was looking at Bison again. "Forget it!" He shouted. "There's no way I'm going to let you do this to her!"

"Then I'm afraid that I must kill you first." Bison said. "Let's see what you've got."

"Bring it on!"

"D!-san!" Ryoko shouted in worry.

"Stay back, Ryoko!" D! said. "I can't risk you getting too close to him!"

Ryoko reluctantly backed off. She tried opening the door to escape, but she found that it had locked behind her. The only thing she could do was hope that D! would be able to win this.

As the boxer and dictator fought it out and a prettyboy was fighting a clawed maniac on the roof of a running car, a female robot and the heir to the Todoh style fought to become the champion of the first-ever Megamix Tournament.

**RESULTS**

KASUMI TODOH (KOF)

ROLL (MM)

**(ELIMINATED)**

BRIAN BATTLER (KOF98)

RIMURURU (SS)

SAMUS (S3)

SPIDERMAN (MC)

CAPTAIN FALCON (SSB)

FOX MCCLOUD (SSB)

ALLY GATOR (B&B)

CHOI BOUNGE (KOF)

BONUS MATCHES:

"**Amy's Rescue" **

GUILE (SFA3) _**smashes**_ MYSTIQUE (MC)

"**Locking Swords" **

REED (S3) _**slashes**_ MUKURO (LB)

"**Brother Battle" **

JIN CHONREI (FF) and VIVIAN (PM2) _**liberate**_ JIN CHONSHU (FF)

Eliminations: Kasumi, Roll and Brian, 2; Rimururu and Samus, 1

Current Elimination Leaders: Billy Kane (8), Rainbow Mika (8), Roll (7), King (7), Xigbar (6), Bruce Irvin (6), Kasumi Todoh (5)

**Roll, Queen of Mystery:** When Xigbar was eliminated, I said that I doubted any other Mystery Fighter would top his six eliminations. I was wrong.


	45. Section Twenty Results C

**(The Arena) **

All of the audience was doing one of two things: One, cheering for Roll, or two, cheering for Kasumi. The two girls, each of them determined to be the one to win, were exchanging punches left and right. A lot of punches were blocked, but some of them were landing.

Kasumi stepped back as Roll punched her in the face. Rubbing her jaw, Kasumi looked at her opponent. _"Man. Being a robot makes her punches harder."_ She thought. _"If I'm not careful, this could be rough."_

Clearing her mind, Kasumi leapt at Roll and lashed out her trademark energy wave at her. Because the attack was in the air, Roll was able to slide underneath the attack and avoid getting hurt.

Kasumi wasn't prepared for this, and was even less prepared for Roll shooting a fully-charged Roll Buster into her stomach in midair. This knocked the blue-haired heir of the Todoh style to the ground, but Kasumi was quick to get up and continued to stare Roll down.

In all honesty, both girls were surprised that they were still standing. Sure, they both got later draws, but they still outlasted fighters like Billy Kane, Spiderman and Captain Falcon. However, even though they were pleased with their success, both Kasumi and Roll knew that their job was far from over and that they shouldn't underestimate each other.

Another thing that the girls had in common was that they found the experience in the tournament exciting. Kasumi was so excited at how well she did and was extremely proud of herself for what she had done. The only thing that could top her happiness was if her father was somehow watching her. Roll, on the other hand, had always wanted to be a fighting robot like her brothers. Fighting in this tournament only excelled the process and made her want to fight Wily's forces that much more.

All in all, no matter what the outcome, both girls would walk away from the tournament satisfied, but that still wasn't going to stop either one from attempting to win. Both Roll and Kasumi proved this when they advanced on each other again, each one preparing to attack.

**(Eliminated Seating) **

All of the eliminated fighters present were erupting in cheers for both of the two fighters. The obvious exception was Kim Kaphwan, whom was still laying unconscious after the beating he received at the hands of the Galaxy Fight gang. Right now, the cheering looking about fifty-fifty. Everyone from the KOF, World Heroes and Fatal Fury nodes was cheering for Kasumi, while the Smash Bros. crew, Galaxy Fighters and Street Fighters were Cheering for Roll. The Mystery Fighters and everyone else were split between the two, but that didn't make any of the fighters quiet in their cheering.

"Come on, Roll!" A recently-arrived Ally Gator cheered. "You're almost there!"

"You can do it, Kasumi!" Blue Mary shouted. "Chalk one up for the Woman's Team!"

"Watch out, Roll!"

"Go for it, Kasumi!"

"Tornado Hold, Roll! Tornado Hold!"

"Kasumi, back off!"

Four of the Mystery Fighters (Larcen Tyler, Gabby Jay, Scorpion and Xigbar) were staying quiet, but that was because they were looking back and forth between the arena and the monitors hanging above the arena, where everyone was watching Jack and Ash Crimson fighting on the roof of a moving car.

"So whom do you guys think is going to win?" Gabby Jay asked. "My money's on the clawed maniac."

"Same with me." Xigbar nodded.

"No bet here." Scorpion added.

"Eh, who knows." Larcen shrugged. "I mean, I'm rooting for the maniac as well, but that prettyboy might have a few surprises. And the real reason we're rooting against him is because none of us can stand him."

"You make a good argument, friend." Scorpion nodded. "Crimson wouldn't have been invited to more than one KOF if he wasn't any good."

"Yeah, but do those officials even know what that guy's been DOING?" Xigbar asked. "He's a villain, for crying out loud! The people running those tournaments should see that he's evil!"

"Oh, YOU'RE a fine one to talk." Gabby smirked.

"As if." Xigbar muttered.

"Well, taking our minds off the screens for a second, those two girls in the ring seem to be holding out fairly well." Larcen pointed out.

"Yeah. Either one of those two could come out the winner." Xigbar agreed. "If Luxord were here, he'd bet everything on the person he'd think would win, and then they most likely would."

"Well, I guess that the only thing we can do is await the outcome." Scorpion said, folding his arms. He suddenly caught sight of a snack vendor walking down the stands a ways away.

"GET OVER HERE!" Scorpion shouted, firing his trademark spear from his hand. The aim was precise, and with one quick yank, Scorpion pulled a bag of popcorn into his hand and started munching.

The others watched this with odd expressions. Gabby looked at Larcen. "And just HOW did you make friends with this guy back in UVR?"

"In all honesty, you got me on that one." Larcen sighed.

**(Dome; Recovery Room) **

"Look, why can't I just leave?" Billy Kane asked as he watched the doctors wrap his broken arm in a cast. "My sister is in danger and I need to get out of here to find her!"

"Out of the question." Dr. Tuta replied sternly. "Your arm's broken and we can't allow you to put any strain on it."

"But…My sister…" Billy said.

"Mr. Kane, is anyone else aware of your sister being in trouble?" Mio asked.

"Yeah. Higashi. But-"

"Then you just leave it to him." Mio said. "Don't you have any faith in him?

"None whatsoever." Billy replied flatly.

"Well, I'm afraid you have no choice." Hanma said. "After the tournament finishes, you'll be free to go, but for now, we have to keep you here."

Billy sighed and sat back. As much as he hated it, he had to rely on Joe to save Lilly.

**(The Arena) **

Kasumi kicked Roll in the stomach, making the female robot stagger back. Roll shook off the attack and shot a Rock Ball onto the canvas. Giving it a hard kick, Roll sent the Rock Ball into the air, clear over Kasumi.

Seeing this, Kasumi smirked. "Looks like you missed."

The Rock Ball, however, was sent on a trip. It bounced off a beam of lights hanging above the arena, off the window on the Sound Booth (cracking it), struck another popcorn vendor in the back of the head, bounced off a turnbuckle and finally slammed into Kasumi's back. This knocked Kasumi to the canvas, and Roll was quick to take advantage of the situation, kicking Kasumi in the side.

Kasumi quickly sprung to life and lashed out at Roll. Roll saw Kasumi's palm coming at her head and swiftly avoided the blow.

As Roll avoided her attack, Kasumi got to her feet. The two stared each other down for a few seconds before lunging at each other, preparing to unleash a projectile.

Once she was close enough, Kasumi swung her arms down, sending another energy wave at Roll. However, at the same time, Roll had shot another fully-charged Roll Buster from her arm cannon. Both attacks struck, knocking both Kasumi and Roll away from each other.

The two girls landed about ten feet away from each other, where they lay unmoving. Kasumi was the first to react, slowly standing up. She turned and saw that Roll was still laying on the canvas.

Kasumi smiled. "She's out cold! I can win this!" She said as she rushed forward.

However, before Kasumi could react, Roll leapt to her feet and shot another Roll Buster at her. Unprepared for this, Kasumi ran straight into the attack and fell to the canvas again.

Kasumi got to her feet again and kept her eyes on Roll. "It seems that you're just as determined as I am." She said.

"Of course! This is my big chance to show my family that I'm perfectly capable of fighting evil like my big brothers do!" Roll nodded.

"Well, let's see if you have the skill to keep those hopes alive."

**(Hotel; Geese's Room) **

"Raging…Storm!"

Joe, having fought Geese before, knew what was coming and wisely kept his distance. Sodom, on the other hand, was inexperienced fighting someone of Geese's power, and flew straight into the tower of energy.

Joe and Lilly winced as Sodom was pelted with energy. Geese stopped his attack, sending Sodom flying into a wall.

Sighing, Joe helped his partner to his feet. "Yeah. I forgot to mention that." He said. "You gotta watch him when he pulls his arms into the air like that."

"Right. Got it." Sodom moaned in pain.

Had Geese been in control of his body, he would have beaten the two already. But because Bison had taken over his mind, Geese wasn't as active or aware as he usually was. It was this reason alone that Joe and Sodom were still standing, but neither of the two were complaining.

"Come on! Let's go!" Joe shouted.

Sodom nodded and drew his Sai. The two charged Geese together.

"No! Don't!" Lilly cried.

Unfortunately, her warning was too late. Geese quickly grabbed Sodom and threw him aside. Joe took this opportunity to punch at Geese, but the blonde man hand up a hand, parrying the blow. Before Joe knew it, Geese had thrown him over his shoulder, making him land directly on top of Sodom.

Again Lilly winced, but recovered. "Joe, you should know by now that you can't just rush him!" She said.

"Yeah, that's right." Joe said as he stood up. "I forgot for a second."

"Uh…You lost me." Sodom said. "Why aren't we supposed to just rush him?"

"He's the master at parrying." Joe replied. "You try throwing a punch while he's fully aware of it and you'll get parried."

"Great." Sodom sighed. "Is he ALWAYS this cheap of a fighter?"

"You have no freaking idea."

"So what do we do, then?"

"The only thing we CAN do." Joe replied. "Take him from different sides."

"Got it."

As Sodom ran off, Joe stepped back a couple of steps, then charged forward. Geese promptly lifted an arm to parry whatever Joe was getting ready to dish out.

However, that's when Sodom landed a hard kick to his back. This made Geese drop his guard, making him a target for Joe to attack. Joe wasted no time in landing a flurry of punches and palm strikes to Geese's face and chest, and then jumped back as Sodom grabbed the crime boss from behind.

Geese could do nothing as Sodom lifted him off the ground and slammed him into it as hard as he could.

"Back off, Sodom! I'll finish this!" Joe warned as he pulled his arm back.

Sodom quickly got off the ground and scrambled to safety. Joe then lashed both arms out, sending two huge Screw Uppers at Geese. The projectiles struck Geese, liftng him off the ground and sending him into the ceiling. Geese hit his head on a board attached to the ceiling, knocking him out.

Joe and Sodom watched as Geese landed on the floor, where he lay unmoving. The two sighed in relief.

"I never thought I'd see my life flash before my eyes." Sodom sighed.

"Let's reflect on that later." Joe said as he walked over to Lilly. "Help me untie my girlfriend, here."

"Oh! Right!"

Of all things Andy Bogard and Bridget were thinking they would see when they entered the room, Geese laying on the floor already out of it wasn't one of them. The two saw Joe and Sodom freeing Lilly and rushed over.

"Joe! What are you doing here?" Andy asked his friend.

"Duh!" Joe said. "I'm saving my girlfriend from a brainwashed crime boss, that's what!"

"You mean that you actually beat Geese?" Andy asked. "Just the two of you?"

"You bet they did!" Lilly said with a smile, wrapping her arms around Joe and Sodom. "These guys saved me!"

Suddenly, everyone heard a moan coming from Geese. Slowly getting to his feet, Geese rubbed his head for a few seconds before his eyes widened. "Oh, no! Bison! Lilly!" He said, remembering what he was trying to do before Bison took over his mind. He spun around to see everyone standing there and Lilly okay.

"It's okay, Mr. Howard." Lilly assured. "Bison's mind control is no longer affecting you. These two had to defeat you to get rid of it, though."

Geese sighed, part in relief and part in regret. He now knew that he had to explain everything to Billy, and that would be a chore in itself.

**(Dome; Roof) **

Rugal stepped to the side as Lucky thrust his foot at him. The evil man smirked. "Face it, Glauber. You can't win." He said. "It took three people to bring me down back in '94. If I recall correctly, your team lost to Kusanagi's team in the first round."

That seemed to fuel Lucky's anger even further. "We lost by a freaking time out and Kyo's team won the tournament!" He retaliated. "If Brian had landed one more hit, we would have won!"

"But that still doesn't change the fact that I am the most powerful character from our node." Rugal said. "Allow me to illustrate."

Rugal pulled his arms back and shoved them forward, sending a huge wave of energy at Lucky. The tall basketball player rolled out of the way and held his hand into the air. A basketball dropped from the sky and landed in Lucky's palm.

"I would admit that you were stronger if you didn't steal any moves." Lucky said, throwing the orange orb at Rugal.

Rugal swatted the basketball away. "WHAT?"

"You heard me." Lucky replied as he took the opportunity to kick Rugal in the face. "Your entire moveset is pretty much entirely made up of stolen moves from Geese Howard and Krauser."

"You shall perish just for that." Rugal said darkly.

"Die, criminal scum!" Chang shouted, swinging his iron wrecking ball at Rhino.

The huge, armoured man blocked the attack with his shoulder. "What is it with you all of a sudden?" Rhino asked. "I always thought you were some sort of criminal."

Chang's eyes narrowed. "You DARE call 'The Koehan' a criminal?" The mountain of man shouted. "Prepare for a severe beating, foolish villain!"

The oversized superhero lumbered at Rhino and lifted his foot. "Heinzan!" He roared.

Chang's foot landed square in the middle of Rhino's face, sending the huge man into the air. Chang stood up and held out his hand, allowing Rhino to fall close to it. Once Rhino was close enough, Chang grabbed his arm and started swinging him around, striking the rooftop with him several times.

Rhino was suddenly extremely thankful that his armour was stronger than almost anything, or else he would have been in extreme pain right about now.

With one arm, Chang demonstrated his insane amount of strength by tossing Rhino away. The armoured criminal stood to his feet and narrowed his eyes.

"Okay, that does it!" Rhino shouted. "Time for my Rhino-ramming attack!"

With that, Rhino charged forward headfirst. Chang saw this and smirked. "You underestimate 'The Koehan', my friend." He said as he charged forward, preparing a headbutt of his own.

Chang and Rhino rushed each other and lashed out their heads. Both foreheads connected with an amazing force and a loud, painful-sounding crack. After the double-attack ended, both giants collapsed to the ground.

Although Sagat was briefly tempted to go and see if Chang was alright, he currently had his hands full. The brainwashed Bruce Irvin kicked at the tall man, but Sagat was quick to duck under the attack. The one-eyed street fighter quickly retaliated with a Tiger Uppercut. Bruce was caught off guard and took the attack to the chin, sending him flying into the air.

Bruce landed on his back, but quickly jumped to his feet and shoved his knee into Sagat's stomach, followed directly by a hard punch to the face.

Sagat stepped back, but shook off the attack and sent two Tiger Shots flying into Bruce's chest. _"I hate having to do this against someone with no projectiles."_ Sagat thought. _"But it's the only way I can make him snap out of it."_

Bruce shook off the attack and mechanically rushed forward, kicking at Sagat again. The tall man shoved his knee directly into Bruce's face, making him step back.

"Okay. I need to finish this now." Sagat said and he charged at Bruce.

Bruce shook his head back and forth and prepared to attack Sagat again when he saw a thick leg coming at his face. After Sagat's rock-hard leg struck his face, Bruce blacked out before he even hit the ground.

Sagat stood over Bruce's body and sighed.

Lucky tossed another basketball at Rugal, whom once again swatted it away. However, Lucky once again used the time Rugal was distracted to his advantage, rushing at the evil man and punching him in the stomach.

"You are a very persistent man, Glauber." Rugal spat. "I shall see an end to that as well."

"Tough talk, Berenstien." Lucky replied with a smirk. "But let's see if you can match me after this!"

Lucky raised his arm again and caught another basketball. Rugal smirked. "You fool. I'm not going to fall for that again."

Lucky hurled his basketball at Rugal and rushed forward. Rugal quickly ducked under the basketball and punched forward, expecting to strike the oncoming Lucky in the chest.

However, Lucky had quickly done a Lucky Vision, zooming behind Rugal before he had a chance to notice. Lucky then jumped at Rugal. "Lucky Driver!" He shouted.

Lucky's feet slammed into Rugal's back. When Lucky rose into the air, Rugal went with him. Lucky then pulled away from Rugal, allowing his defeated body to fall to the surface of the roof.

Lucky quickly looked around. Seeing as how Chang was unconscious and Sagat was helping a recovered Bruce Irvin to his feet, Lucky went over to Jan and untied him.

"Thank you, Mr. Glauber!" Jan said with a smile, holding onto himself in an attempt to keep warm. "M-Man. It's so c-c-cold up here."

"Here, kid." Lucky said taking off his jacket and handing it to Jan. "This should keep you warm until the tournament finishes at least."

Seeing that Bruce was alright, Sagat went over to Chang, whom was starting to stir. The tall man helped the giant to his feet.

"Ugh…Man. Where am I?" Chang asked. "And…Why am I wearing this skincap on my head?" His eyes widened. "The tournament! I still need to enter the ring!"

"Chang, we need to talk." Lucky said. "Come on. Let's get off this roof here."

**(The Arena) **

Roll ducked under another palm strike from Kasumi and slipped in a punch to the face. As Kasumi recoiled, Roll jumped back and pressed a button on her arm cannon.

"Let's see how you like my Leaf Shield!" Roll said as a ring of floating leaves surrounded her.

"Big deal. It's just a defensive move." Kasumi pointed out.

Roll smirked. "I beg to differ." With that, she shot from her arm cannon, sending the entire circle of leaves flew straight at Kasumi. The blue-haired girl was taken aback by this and received twelve sharp strikes to the face.

Seeing her big chance, Roll rushed forward as Kasumi stepped back, holding her face.

However, as Roll was approaching, Kasumi snapped out of her daze and saw the robot girl coming. Thinking quickly, Kasumi shoved her foot into Roll's oncoming face, then pulled her arms into the air. As Roll stepped back a couple of steps, Kasumi thrust her arms down, sending her energy wave at her.

The energy wave pelted Roll three times, knocking her to the ground. Kasumi quickly picked up the small robot and threw her across the arena, getting close to the ropes. Wanting to end the tournament, Kasumi rushed ahead.

Both girls had been close to elimination several times already, and Roll knew that she wasn't going down that easily. Roll slowly got to her feet and suddenly saw how close to the ropes she was. Seeing Kasumi running towards her, Roll blindly ran forward as well.

When the two girls reached each other, Kasumi attempted a punch. However, Roll slipped past her instead, and once she did, she turned around and fired a Roll Buster into Kasumi's back.

Staggering forward, Kasumi stopped herself and spun around. Narrowing her eyes at Roll, Kasumi jumped forward again.

Standing in place, Roll shot several Roll Busters at the oncoming Kasumi. The blue-haired girl swiftly avoided all of the shots and never even stopped running. In a flash, Kasumi was at Roll's side and had delivered a strong punch to the side of her head.

Stepping to the side, Roll quickly recovered and looked at Kasumi. "You're pretty quick. From first glance, it doesn't look like you'd be much for speed." She said.

"I have been training my whole life." Kasumi said. "I wish noting more than to make my father proud."

"I guess I know how you feel." Roll nodded. "My wish is to be a great fighter like my older brothers. I just wanna fight evil, and what did my creator do? He made me a house-cleaning robot!"

"Ouch. That must stink."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, maybe they'll see your success in the ring and agree to give you the modifications."

"That's exactly what I'm hoping."

"Well, I suppose we'd better finish this." Kasumi said. "After all, the tournament needs only one more elimination to finish."

"Of course." Roll agreed. "Let's go!"

**(Dome; Hallway) **

Eiji Kisaragi hand-sprung several times backwards, avoiding a slash from Setsuna. Once he landed on his feet, Eiji extending his left hand, shooting a ball of fire directly into the assassin's chest.

Setsuna growled and got to his feet. "Impossible." He said. "If there are two elements in one body, they should be fighting for control! Not working together!"

"I'm just as confused as you are, but I'm definitely not complaining." Eiji said as he extended his right hand. A stream of water shot from it, curling around Setsuna and pinning one of his arm to his side. With a flick of the wrist, Eiji lifted Setsuna off the ground and sent him into the wall, releasing him.

Julia Chang watched the scene with wide eyes, but kept her distance. She was so surprised to see the elements working so well together, but knew that approaching either one in the heat of a battle would be suicide. So instead, the only thing Julia could do was sit at the sidelines and hope Eiji could win.

Setsuna ran at Eiji and swung his sword. Eiji quickly responded by raising his own katana and blocking the attempted strike. The two swung at each other several times, but each attack was blocked, so nothing got through to either fighter.

Seeing an opening, Setsuna kicked Eiji in the stomach. This sent the purple-clad ninja flying back a couple of feet, but Eiji was quickly to recover. Setsuna was rushing at him, so Eiji had to act quick. Lashing out his right hand, Eiji created a small wave of water, which washed over Setsuna. The force of the wave pushed the dark-skinned assassin back a bit, but he dropped his guard, which made him the perfect target for another fireball to the chest

Setsuna was fighting a losing battle, and he knew it. The only problem was that he would never admit it in a million years. He had to do something fast or he would lose for sure.

Pulling his arms into the air, Setsuna swung his sword as hard as he could, sending a huge slash of powerful energy straight at Eiji. The size of the slash covered Setsuna's sight of Eiji completely, but when it cleared up, Eiji was nowhere to be seen.

Setsuna looked around the hallway, having a bad feeling about where Eiji was. However, the only person he could see in the hallway was Julia.

Unfortunately for Setsuna, he forgot to look up. Eiji was clinging to the ceiling and had dropped down, landing directly on top of Setsuna. Eiji, deciding to finish the fight, moved his hands around into several positions and concentrated.

A beam of blue and red energy erupted from the ground, surrounding both ninja and assassin. Julia, taken aback by the intense brightness of the beam, shielded her eyes with her arm.

When the light faded, Julia uncovered her eyes and saw that Setsuna was laying on the ground, defeated. Eiji, the auras still shining on his body, stood wavering. He stepped off of Setsuna's body, walked forward a couple of steps and fell to the ground.

Julia was about to rush over to Eiji's side when she saw the auras on his body fade, returning Eiji to his normal form. Then, two orbs of light emerged from Eiji's body, floated in place for a few seconds and flew through the wall, vanishing from sight completely.

Julia smiled in realization. "He's cured." She said. "He's cured."

**(Catsablanca) **

Ash gave Jack a hard punch to the face, sending him crashing onto the roof of a taxi. The clawed maniac quickly jumped to his feet and perched himself atop the taxi's sign on the roof, drawing his claws.

"I shall have a grand time ripping you to shreds!" Jack cackled as he leapt at Ash, whom was standing in the back area of a pickup truck.

"You won't get the chance, you fool!" Ash shouted back as he swung his hand, sending a wave of green flames at Jack. Jack landed just ahead of the flames and rolled underneath them, slashing at Ash's midsection. Ash took the blow and stepped back in pain, but quickly recovered. Reaching out, he grabbed Jack by the collar of his jacket.

"I'd say that it's time for me to put you out of MY misery." Ash said as he threw Jack away with all his might.

Flying through the air, Jack saw that he was heading towards a street lamp at the side of the road. Grabbing hold of it, Jack spun around it several times before launching himself back into the street, straight back at the white-haired prettyboy.

Ash saw Jack coming, but there was little he could do to stop both of the clawed maniac's feet from plowing into his face. Ash flew from the trucks and landed on the flatbed again. Jack leapt on after him.

"What's the matter?" Jack asked. "Did baby fall down and go boom?"

Laying on the ground, Ash shot a green fireball into Jack's face, making him step back in surprise. Ash leapt to his feet, grabbed Jack and threw him into the front part of the truck. While Jack was propped against the side of the truck's back window, Ash walked up and delivered several punches to his face.

After the sixth punch, Jack snapped back to attention and kicked Ash off of him. Standing up, Jack prepared to run Ash through when the prettyboy grabbed him again, throwing him onto the roof of a city bus.

It took a fair amount of effort, but Ash jumped onto the bus to continue facing Jack. The two rushed each other again, slashing claws and throwing punches.

"It's over, you freak!" Ash roared, wrapping his hands around Jack's neck. "By the time I'm through with you, no one will even be able to recognize the dental records!"

"Heh. That's what you think, prettyboy!" Jack laughed, slightly weak due to him getting choked. "I've still got one more trick up my sleeve!"

"Oh, yeah? Prove it!"

"You asked for it." Jack said with a maniacal smile as he smashed his forehead into Ash's, making the white-haired man let go of him and back away, towards the front of the bus.

Ash shook his head back and forth and narrowed his eyes at Jack. "Okay. It's REALLY time for me to unleash my ultimate attacks." He said.

Jack smirked. "See ya later, sucker." He said as he crouched low and leapt high into the air, out of sight.

"Did I scare him off?" Ash asked, looking around. He turned around and his eyes widened when he saw that the bus he was currently standing on top of was driving towards a low-hanging bridge.

Before Ash had time to react, the bus drove under the bridge. Unfortunately, Ash didn't go with it and slammed into the bridge with full force. Slowly, Ash peeled away from the bridge and fell headlong into traffic.

Jack, in the meantime, had grabbed hold of the top of the bridge after he jumped and watched the scene in amusement. "Heh heh. What a moron." He said to himself as he climbed onto the bridge and back to safety. He spent the rest of the ten minutes watching the traffic.

**(Dome; Secret Room) **

"Psycho Crusher!" Bison roared as he flew at Heavy D! headfirst. The black boxer swerved out of the way and gave Bison a hard punch to the stomach as he flew by. This brought the evil dictator out of his attack, but Bison wasn't down yet, and he proved this by instantly kicking D! in the head.

D! staggered back, still feeling Bison's powerful kick. He knew that this was going to be tough, but was he about to let Ryoko down? No. The thought of Ryoko was the only thing keeping D! on his feet, because there was no way he was going to let her become a mindless slave for someone like Bison.

"You are a fool to think you could beat someone like me!" Bison laughed as he floated towards D!. "I am far too powerful for you to defeat!"

"I dunno, man." D! chuckled. "Looking at how well we each fared in the arena, I don't think you're as unbeatable as you think you are."

"That was a minor fluke on my part." Bison growled. "I shall not make the same mistake twice."

"Good, because that would just make me laugh at you even harder." D! said with a smirk.

"Don't you ever shut up?" Bison shouted, doing a forward flip and aiming his heels at D!'s forehead.

D! leaned backwards, allowing Bison's heels to miss him. D! then pulled his hand into the air and slammed it into the ground, creating a Soul Flower around himself and sending Bison flying away.

Bison quickly uprighted himself and flew at D!. Catching the boxer off guard, Bison wrapped a hand around D!'s neck, flew towards the wall and slammed him into it.

"Now for me to do what I should have done when you challenged me in the first place." Bison hissed.

"And what's that?" D! asked, getting short on breath.

"Break you scrawny neck." Bison replied coldly.

However, before he could do much, something slammed into his back, making him let go of D!. The black boxer slid down the wall for ten feet and landed upright. D! felt his neck painfully and looked at whom had saved him.

"Don't you EVER do that to D!-san again!" Ryoko, whom still had her palms outstretched after firing an energy blast, shouted.

"Ryoko, get out of the way!" D! shouted back, running at her.

Ryoko suddenly saw Bison swooping down at her. D! quickly ran in and pushed her aside, allowing Bison to tackle him instead.

The two fighters rolled for a bit, each throwing punches into the other's face. When they finally stopped, Bison had pinned D! to the ground.

"Maybe killing you isn't such a good idea." Bison said, placing his hand on D!'s forehead. "You would make a good addition to my army."

D! suddenly realized that Bison was about to flood his mind with psycho energy, taking him over. Thinking quickly, D! pulled his foot back and kicked Bison in the head, making him back off.

D! stood up, rushed at Bison and pushed him, shoving the dictator into the chair Ryoko would have been sitting in.

"I can't say it's been fun, Bison." D! said, pulling his hand back. "Because it really hasn't."

Bison's eyes widened. "NO!"

"D! MAGNUM!"

*KA-POW!*

D!'s punch was directed at the container above Bison's machine, which contained the seven essences stolen from the kidnapped kids. The sheer, raw power from D!'s punch caused the container to shatter, making the essences escape and float to the ground. The instant the small orbs of light touched the ground, they vanished into thin air.

And if that wasn't enough, the destruction of the main power source of the machine caused the machine itself to malfunction, and start to sputter. Somehow knowing what was going to happen, D! looked at Ryoko. "We need to get out of here, Ryoko! Come on!" He said.

The two rushed towards the door, which D! gave an R.S.D. to cause it to break off the hinges.

As D! and Ryoko rushed out of the room, Bison's machine collapsed around the evil dictator, burying him in rubble.

**(The Arena) **

Kasumi and Roll stood away from each other, panting in exhaustion at the fight they were each trying to win. Kasumi looked about ready to collapse, and Roll's energy meter wasn't looking too good, either.

Both of the girls knew that they had to finish the fight soon or else neither of them would be able to continue.

"It's about time I finished the fight." Kasumi said, standing straight and running at Roll.

"Yes. Too bad you're going to finish it by getting eliminated." Roll countered as she charged forward as well.

The two girls clashed for what seemed like the hundredth time. Kasumi swung her palm at Roll, but all she met with was air. Roll quickly kicked the blue-haired girl in the side, knocking her down.

Roll stood over Kasumi. "You are an amazing fighter, Kasumi. I'm sorry to do this, but the fight needs to end." Roll sighed.

"Indeed…Indeed it does." Kasumi nodded as she sprung to her feet, surprising Roll. "The fight will end for you."

Kasumi struck Roll with a couple of palm strike, a few kicks, and finally swept the robot girl off her feet. Roll landed on her back, and was too tired to prevent Kasumi from grabbing her and throwing her into the air.

The audience watched in awe.

Kasumi pulled her hands into the air, mustering up as much power as she could. When she was finally satisfied, Kasumi thrust her hands down one final time, creating an energy wave larger than any of the others she had created throughout the night. Roll fell directly into the wave and found herself getting pelted with energy.

Everyone watched in shock as Kasumi's huge energy wave carried Roll over the ropes and dropped her out of the arena. Everything went in slow-motion for Roll as she fell straight into an elimination portal.

Roll landed on the beach in Sonic Adventure. Extremely thankful that it was peaceful, Roll found herself drifting off the regain her strength as she lay in the sand.

In the arena, everyone was going nuts. Kasumi finally stepped out of her fighting stance and collapsed to her knees in relief and exhaustion.

"There you are, folks!" SSBFreak announced. "The fight is over! I repeat: The fight is over!"

"Ladies and gentlemen," Unknown1 continued. "We present to you, the first-ever champion of the Megamix Tournament…"

"Kasumi Todoh!" Both announcers said as one.

Cameras all across the stands were flashing, taking pictures of the only fighter still in the arena. Kasumi watched as the barrier around the arena shut off, so she stood up, waved to the crowd several times and walked towards the entrance ramp to leave the ring.

And back in Southtown, Ryuhaku Todoh's eyes watered in pride.

**RESULTS**

KASUMI TODOH (KOF)

**(ELIMINATED)**

ROLL (MM)

**BONUS MATCHES: **

"**The Final Battle" **

HEAVY D! (KOF) _**takes down**_ M. BISON (SFA3)

"**Lilly's Rescue" **

JOE HIGASHI (KOF) and SODOM (SFA3) _**defeat**_ GEESE HOWARD (FF)

"**Jan's Rescue" **

LUCKY GLAUBER (KOF) _**dunks**_ RUGAL BERENSTIEN (KOF)

"**Iron-Headed Showdown" **

CHANG KOEHAN (KOF) _**crushes**_ RHINO (MC)

"**Thai Fighter Fight" **

SAGAT (SFA3) _**saves**_ BRUCE IRVIN (T5)

"**Elemental Control" **

EIJI KISARAGI (KOF95) _**burns**_ SETSUNA (LB)

"**Cityside Rumble" **

JACK (WH) _**crushes**_ ASH CRIMSON (KOF)

Eliminations: Kasumi Todoh, 1

Elimination Leaders: Billy Kane (8), Rainbow Mika (8), Roll (7), King (7), Kasumi Todoh (6), Xigbar (6), Bruce Irvin (6)


	46. Tournament Epilogue

**(Dome; Autograph Hall) **

Most of the fighters present in the tournament were lined up down the long hallway, each one sitting at a table, prepared to sign autographs for any fans that might approach them. People like Ryu and Kyo were getting lines and lines of people, whereas people from the Galaxy Fight and Kizuna Encounter nodes were getting more manageable amounts of people.

Noticing the roughed-up look Heavy D! was sporting, Lucky (sitting two chairs away) raised his eyebrows. "You okay, D!" He asked. "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine. I managed to stop Bison, and that's the main thing." D! sighed.

"That's good, man." Lucky said, flashing a thumbs-up.

"How about your groups?" D! asked. "You guys rescue the kids okay?"

"Yep. Chang managed to snap out of his superhero stint as well." Lucky replied. "He doesn't have any idea on what he's been doing."

"Well, it's good to have him back, to say the least." D! said.

D! and Lucky suddenly noticed an empty seat in between them. "I wonder whose chair that is." Lucky mused.

"That would be mine."

D! and Lucky looked in the direction of the voice and saw Brian walking over with a smirk.

"Brian?" D! and Lucky asked at the same time.

"You entered the tournament?" Lucky asked.

"Heck, yeah. I entered in the last section and made it to he final four." Brian replied as he sat down in between his friends. "I managed to score three eliminations."

"Awesome, man!" D! said. "I hope you showed everyone what the Sports Team is made of."

"You know it."

Sitting a ways away, Chang Koehan was signing a surprising amount of autographs. In fact, he was getting a bigger line than Kim was. Chang never would have thought that was even possible.

Chang noticed a shirt one of his fans was wearing and saw that it was a picture of him wearing a skincap and cape and striking a heroic pose. The words underneath the picture read 'Evil shall fear 'The Koehan'!'.

"You were awesome in the ring!" The fan told Chang.

"Uh…I was?" Chang asked.

"Of course! You were pulling off so many cool moves and kicked the tar out of Lee Chaolan after you were eliminated!"

Chang chuckled. "Uh…Yeah. That's a new 'character' I'm trying." He replied. "Like what those wrestlers nowadays are doing."

"Well, keep it, man!" The fan replied. "That character of yours made me a fan of you!"

Chang remained silent as he signed the autograph. It seemed that whatever happened to him, it had made his fighting talent and popularity increase dramatically. Chang made a mental note to become that strong without getting hit on the head.

Across the hall, the World Heroes gang were getting a small amount of fans. Surprisingly, the one with the longest line of fans was Jack, but the clawed maniac paid it no mind and instead scribbled autograph after autograph.

"Why is he the one with all the fans?" Erik asked.

"Well, he DID tear that Baraka fellow to shreds and won his battle against Ash Crimson." Rasputin pointed out.

Janne suddenly saw that Ryoko was still wearing her Heavy D! fan shirt. "Why are you wearing that, Ryoko?" The French woman asked.

"Because I love D!-san!" Ryoko replied cheerily. "He's done a lot more for me than you might think, Janne."

"Believe her." J. Maxx added.

"I don't have time to give all the details now. Maybe on the trip home." Ryoko said.

Janne shrugged.

Billy Kane, having just been let out of the Recovery Room, walked into the hallway with his broken arm in a cast and sling. He scanned the hallway for a second. "Where's that idiot Higashi?" He asked himself. "I need to know if he saved Lilly."

"Billy!"

Billy, recognizing the voice, spun around and saw Lilly running to him with open arms. Joe and Sodom walked behind her. Billy instantly forgot about his arm and wrapped his good one around his sister.

"Lilly, I'm so glad to see you alright!" Billy said, tears of happiness running down his face. "What happened?"

"Joe saved me, Billy." Lilly replied simply.

"He did?" Billy asked, half surprised.

Billy looked at Joe, whom was rubbing the back of his head nervously. The British fighter walked over to Joe and sighed, sticking his good hand out, surprising Joe.

"It appears that I owe you some thanks." Billy said. "You saved my sister, and for that, I'm grateful."

Joe smiled and shook Billy's hand. "Now do you see that I love her?"

Billy was silent. "Okay. Maybe you aren't as bad a person as I thought you were." He said. "I'll give you a chance with Lilly, but mark my words. You make her cry ONCE and you'll regret it."

"Don't sweat it." Joe chuckled nervously. "I wouldn't DREAM of breaking Lilly's heart."

"You'd better not."

**(Dome; Awards Ceremony) **

An hour later, most of the fighters in the tournament had gathered inside a huge room. The only obvious exception was Bison, and only a select few knew where he was.

The fighters were suddenly very glad that this was a fighter-only event, because if anyone was allowed to come, no one would have been able to move. In addition to the fighters, the only ones there were the security force and Shadow, Astaroth and Aila. As everyone was walking around the large room, talking, SSBFrea and Unknown1 stepped onto a small stage at the side wall. They pushed a large, steel box on a trolley, and let go of it once they stopped. SSBFreak walked up to one of the two mics and cleared his throat.

"Attention please? Can everyone pay attention?" SSBFreak asked. Everyone quieted down. "Thank you. Now, before I say anything else, I'd like to personally thank each and every one of you for entering this tournament. Even those I personally dislike, but I will not say whom."

"*cough* Lilly Pendragon and Ash Crimson *cough*." Unknown1 muttered.

"Did you say something, Unknown?"

"No. Just a little irritation in the throat." Unknown1 replied. "Please continue."

"Thanks. Now, before we start handing out awards, could you all please look at the screens scattered around the room?" SSBFreak said, pointing to the large screens on the walls. "They will display the elimination counts in just a second."

Everyone watched as these tally sheets appeared on the screen:

**8 Eliminations: **

RAINBOW MIKA (Lee Chaolan, Shiba, Heavy D!, Toppo, King, Akira Yuki, Lucky Glauber, Peach Toadstool), BILLY KANE (Ness, Wolverine, Joe Higashi, Iori Yagami, Nakoruru, Mewtwo, Chun-Li, Gaira Caffeine)

**7 Eliminations: **

KING (Borus Redrum, Dee Jay Maximum, Bruce Irvin, Andy Bogard, Ryu, Bryan Fury, Gambit), ROLL (Mukuro, Lau Chan, Gozu, Roomi, Rolf, Choi Bounge, Brian Battler)

**6 Eliminations: **

BRUCE IRVIN (Sagat, Pichu, Vivian, Yoshi, K', Edge), XIGBAR (Ryofu, Sarah Bryant, Kathy, Rhett, Q, Chung Paihu) KASUMI TODOH (E. Honda, Billy Kane, Raven, Samus, Rimururu, Roll)

**5 Eliminations: **

HEAVY D! (Moriya Minakata, Nightcrawler, Geddoe, Shen Woo, Fuuma), CHANG KOEHAN (Balrog, Hayate, Baek Doo San, Electro, Spiral), LUCKY GLAUBER (Bao, Setsuna, Guile, Ryo Sakazaki, Mr. Game & Watch), PEACH TOADSTOOL (King Lion, Larcen Tyler, Neinhalt Seiger, Hon-Fu, Kazuma), LUIGI MARIO (Sgt. Joe, Ryoko, Dhalsim, Rolento Shugerg, Jin Kazama), CHUN-LI (Yoshimitsu, Shura, Gordon Boman, Ace, Faust), CAPTAIN FALCON (J. Carn, Blazeman, Leona, Tsugumi Sendo, Jacques)

**4 Eliminations: **

JUBEI YAGYU (Jack, Robert Garcia, Marrow, Takuma Sakazaki), WATARI (Musafar, Earthquake, Raiden, Ukyo Tachibana), ATHENA ASAMIYA (Okina, Clark Steele, Samus Aran, Brad Burns), LARCEN TYLER (Jin Chonshu, Jigglypuff, Lion Rafale, G. Done) DUCK KING (Mizuki, T. Hawk, Chin Gensai, Shabon), KULA DIAMOND (Benimaru Nikaido, Pikachu, Rainbow Mika, Kung Pow), VENOM (Guy, Kim Sue Il, Elaine, Mai Shiranui), GABBY JAY (Nina Williams, Kyo Kusanagi, Goh Hinogami, Maxima), YURI SAKAZAKI (Kirby, Sandman, Zeus, Wario)

**3 Eliminations: **

MARIO MARIO (Alvan, Ling Xiaoyu, Maxi), GEDDOE (Sonic, Athena Asamiya, Rouwe) FALCO LOMBARDI (Li Xiangfei, Janne, Nei), LINK (Muscle Power, Hibiki Takane, Genjuro), KAGEMARU (Busuzima, Shingo Yabuki, Hanzo Hattori), WILE E. COYOTE (Joker (S3), Mel, Kim Kaphwan), CECILE (Rasputin, Stormtrooper, Hanzou), GOH HINOGAMI (Dan Hibiki, Kazuya Mishima, Pesmerga), LANDIS (Duck King, Vanessa, Brocken), NESS (Landis, Cecile, Joker (KE)), ACE (Vega, Gabby Jay, Iceman), BLAZEMAN (Terry Bogard, Kim Dragon, Whip), LAU CHAN (Wan-Fu, Sodom, Bowser), KIRBY (Duke, Ralf Jones, Hallec), WARIO (Juan, Rosa, Abyss), ROOMI (Mickey Rogers, Blanka, Mudman), BRIAN BATTLER (Jeffry McWild, Ally Gator, Spiderman)

**2 Eliminations: **

GALFORD (Hyo Amano, Jacky Bryant), CAMMY WHITE (Ash Crimson, Jin Chonrei), SAMUS ARAN (Pai Chan, Gadget Z), SAKURA KUSANAGO (Erik, Jubei Yagyu), REED (Cody, Asuka Kazama), NEI (Reed, Lei Wulong), TOPPO (Falco Lombardi, Link), GUILE (Franco Bash, Kuma), KOJIROH SANADA (Futch, Roy), LIQUIDATOR (J. Maxx, Wile E. Coyote), RASPUTIN (Mezu, Belle), KUNG POW (Charlotte, Magneto), DONKEY KONG (Rugal Berenstein, Jubilee), JUZOH KANZAKI (Yuber, Gannondorf Dragmire), TERRY BOGARD (Kuruko, Luigi Mario), ZELDA (Venom, Rogue), KATHY (Juzoh Kanzaki, Wolf Hawkfield), MEWTWO (Shinnosuke Kagami, Akuma), RALF JONES (Rico, Zelda), MUKURO (Leo Gallen, Goro Daimon), AXL (Heihachi Mishima, Duraal), JACQUES (Juggernaut, Yuri Sakazaki), RIMURURU (Ryuji Yamazaki, Captain Falcon), SAMUS (Akari Ichijo, Fox McCloud)

**1 Elimination: **

PAI CHAN (Hwoarang), GADGET Z (Max Eagle), MUSAFAR (Marth), MARROW (Julia Chang), SAGAT (Hugo), JIN CHONREI (Conan), VIVIAN (Cammy White), CLARK STEELE (Queen), RAIDEN (Percival Fraulein), SONIC (Galford), CAPTAIN KIDD (Sakura Kusanago), NIGHTCRAWLER (Lilly Pendragon), SCORPION (Basara), DEE JAY MAXIMUM (Mario Mario), JANNE (Watari), RYU (Scorpion), LION RAFALE (Lucia), BUSUZIMA (Seth), SHIBA (Chang Koehan), G. DONE (Kagemaru), J. MAXX (M. Bison), AKIRA YUKI (Fred Maximillion), PIKACHU (Liquidator), PEGGI (Kojiroh Sanada), STORMTROOPER (Silver Samurai), T. HAWK (Steve Fox), CHARLOTTE (Kaede), RYOKO (Hinako), KAZUYA MISHIMA (Peggi), DAN HIBIKI (Geese Howard), SHABON (Haohmaru), KEN MASTERS (Kula Diamond), ROLENTO SHUGERG (Donkey Kong), JIN KAZAMA (Ken Masters), VEGA (Chris Lightfellow), WOLF HAWKFIELD (Gunter), ICEMAN (Duo Lon), Q (Yuki), AKUMA (Jack-5), SANDMAN (Xigbar), BOWSER (Wolfgang Krauser), ROSA (Sie Kensou), RYUJI YAMAZAKI (Abubo), ICE CLIMBERS (Shigen Naoe), ALLY GATOR (Axl), FOX MCCLOUD (Karin), SPIDERMAN (Blue Mary Ryan), CHOI BOUNGE (Ice Climbers)

After giving everyone time to read the stats, Unknown1 spoke up. "And now, if we may have your attention again?" Everyone looked at the two announcers. "Before we present Miss Todoh with her trophy, we'd like to present several fighters with a few smaller awards."

SSBFreak opened up the steel box and pulled out a tray of medals and small trophies. "These may not be as big as the main trophy, but they're still noteworthy. So here they are: Our 'Honourable Mentions'."

**Tough Luck:** Roll, our runner-up. She may have been close to winning, but at least she can leave knowing she scored more eliminations than the winner.

**The Best of the Bunch:** Billy Kane and R. Mika. These two scored more eliminations than anyone else in the tournament.

**Rosa, the Killer Kizuna:** Rosa was the only one in her node to get an elimination. Well, at least they aren't going away empty-handed.

**Surprise of the Night:** The Galaxy Fight node. They managed to score FIVE eliminations.

**Thank the Comeback Kid:** If it wasn't for Bruce, the Tekken node would have had LESS eliminations than the Galaxy Fight node.

**Big-Guy Slayer:** Watari. Three of his four eliminations were on Big Guys.

**Mystery Mayhem:** While a handful of them got eliminated pretty easily, the majority of the Mystery Fighters did fairly well in the ring.

**Shocking Mystery Moment:** Gabby Jay's success. Need we say more?

**UVR History:** Kasumi marks the first time in ANY UVR spinoff (that SSBFreak is aware of) that a female has won the tournament.

**Success Streak**: The World Heroes node showed a surprising amount of success, although only a few of them scored survived a section. Rasputin (with 2 eliminations) is the MVP.

After the awards were handed out, SSBFreak reached further into the steel box. Unknown1 continued to announce. "And now, would Kasumi Todoh please step onto the stage?"

Kasumi obeyed and stepped onto the small stage with the two announcers.

"Kasumi, as the first-ever winner of the Megamix Tournament, SSBFreak and I would like to present you with this." Unknown1 said, waving his hand in the direction SSBFreak was in.

Everyone watched as SSBFreak pulled a golden trophy about the size of Choi Bounge out of the steel box, holding it in his hands. The trophy had two small undeterminable figures perched on top, punching at each other. The tournament logo was below the figures, on the wooden part of the trophy and Kasumi saw her name imprinted on the base.

Seeing Kasumi eye the trophy in awe, Unknown1 chuckled. "Go ahead and take it, Kasumi. It's all yours, and believe us, you deserve it."

Kasumi slowly stepped forward and accepted the trophy. She slowly turned to the mic, knowing that she had to make a speech now.

"Well…What can I say? This is absolutely amazing." Kasumi said, a bit at loss for words. "I don't even know if I'm even worthy to accept this trophy, because there were many more-talented fighters that got eliminated before I even entered. I feel honoured to be standing here now, and my only wish is that my father, wherever he is, is proud of me, too. I hope to see all of you back here next year, because I think we'd have a spectacular tournament, just like this one." Taking a deep breath, Kasumi continued. "I don't know what else there is to say except that I respect the skills of a lot of people here. I sure hope I can have the honour of meeting you all again. Once again, thank you."

The others erupted in cheers for the blue-haired girl as she started walking off the stage. However, before she got very far, she rushed back over to the mic.

"Uh…And Mr. Kane? I hope you can forgive me for breaking your arm." Kasumi said. "It was honestly, truly an accident and I swear I never wanted to do it in the first place."

In the crowd, Billy chuckled as Kasumi left the stage for real. For some odd reason, he just didn't feel mad anymore. Maybe it was because his sister was safe and sound. He didn't have time to think any more, because SSBFreak approached the mic again.

"Once again, we thank you all for participating." SSBFreak said. "I hope to do another tournament next year, so keep your eyes peeled for more invitations. Thank you and have a safe trip back to your home nodes, wherever they may be."

**(Nodal Train Station) **

The nodal trains were a thing to behold. Each of the trains in VG Central traveled through wormholes attached to the tracks, causing node-jumping. This was the main source of transportation for anyone whom was returning from vacation or, in this case, returning from a fighting tournament.

There were many trains scattered around, and all of the fighters were stepping onto the trains to get back home.

"So you mean that our son was kidnapped and I didn't even know it?" Ken Masters asked his wife Eliza as they were preparing to get onto the train to take them home.

Eliza sighed. "Yes, dear. Thankfully, the security force found him before anything happened." She replied.

"You threatened them, didn't you?"

"Oh, yeah."

Mel, in the meantime, watched the Suikoden train. He saw Musafar and Belle pushing a still-malfunctioning Gadget Z into the train.

"KHAAAAAAAAAAAANNNN!" Gadget Z screamed as he was shoved into the train.

Musafar saluted Belle and walked off to join the Galaxy Fight crew on their train.

"I wonder what caused that robot to malfunction in the first place?" Mel mused.

"Well, that group comes from a time where machines weren't exactly built properly." Ken reasoned. "I mean, honestly. That thing is made out of a barrel."

"Well, let's get on the train and head back home." Eliza said. "We need to get back before Mel's bedtime."

"Aw, mom!" Mel whined.

"Masters..." A cold voice said.

Ken turned around and saw the cold glares of K' and Maxima. Seeing Kula with K' made Ken remember his cheap trick for eliminating her.

"I believe you owe Kula for the elimination." K' said.

"Honey, let's get on the train." Ken said, rushing into the train.

"What's going on?" Eliza asked as she flew into the train after her husband with Mel. The doors closed behind them, shutting K's team out.

Meanwhile, at the KOF train, Choi Bounge saw that his big buddy Chang was in deep thought. "Hey, Chang? What's bothering you?" The small man asked.

"Choi, was I REALLY that good a fighter when I was that superhero?" Chang asked.

"Well…Yeah. I mean, you DID get five eliminations." Choi said. "And from what the Sports Team told me, you helped take down Bison and rescue some kidnapped kids."

"I did, huh?"

"Uh…Mr. Koehan?"

Chang and Choi looked and saw Junior Maximum coming over with his father, J. Maxx. "What's up, kid?" Chang asked.

"Mr. Koehan, I wanted to personally thank you for sticking up for me in that hallway." Junior said. "While I may have been captured soon after that, you were very brave then and I wanted to show my appreciation."

"Really?" Chang asked, surprised. He remembered the kid. He had met him just before fighting Valgas (whom ultimately sent him onto his superhero rage). "Well, that's nice, kid. But I really don't think that's necessary. I mean, I was just doing the right thing."

"Mr. Koehan, I insist." Junior said, holding out a home-made necklace with a long tooth hanging in the middle. "I found this tooth when my dad took me to Africa. I want you to have it."

Chang stood in silence before slowly accepting the gift. "Well, thanks, kid." Chang said. "I really don't know what to say."

Junior smiled. "Just say that we'll see you again next year."

Chang smiled back. "You can count on it."

J. Maxx stepped forward. "I also wanted to thank you, my friend. Your deed means a lot to me." He held out his hand, which Chang shook. "I also hope to see you next year."

After bidding them farewell, J. Maxx and Junior went back over to the train for the World Heroes gang.

Choi looked up at Chang and smirked. "See, buddy?" He asked. "You've got a lot of fans now. Don't feel so down that you don't remember anything."

With that, Choi stepped onto the train, leaving Chang standing outside. Chang looked at the necklace Junior had given him, back at Junior's retreating figure and into his open backpack, where his superhero mask and cape were secretly stashed.

Thinking of everything he had accomplished, Chang nodded once in thought and spoke one sentence before stepping onto the train.

"I will not rest until 'The Koehan' is back forever."

Over on another part of the huge train platform, Billy and Joe watched as Lilly said goodbye to the Fallout Shelter gang and rushed over to meet them. Because she wasn't allowed into the awards ceremony, Lilly had gone to the restaurant with the TFS crew, whom were going to meet Blazeman at the train station as well.

"Sorry about that." Lilly said.

"No harm done." Billy shrugged. "The train isn't leaving until we're all on it."

"You like that gang, eh?" Joe asked.

"Yeah. They're all a good bunch of people." Lilly said. "I'd like to visit this 'Fallout Shelter' sometime."

Billy chuckled. "Maybe when Geese gives me my Christmas vacation." He put his good arm around Lilly's shoulder. "Come on, sis. Let's go home."

"Remember the deal, Billy." Lilly reminded as Joe followed them into the train, carrying Billy's staff for him. "You would give Joe a chance and let him date me once without interfering."

"I know, Lilly." Billy nodded as the doors closed behind them. "Higashi…Er…I mean 'Joe'…Has proven to me that he truly does love you, and I owe it to him for saving your life."

Lilly smiled warmly. "Thanks, big brother."

Soon, almost all of the trains had gone. Only four remained: Sonic the Hedgehog, Soul Caliber, Suikoden 3 and an unknown location. Four figures stood on the platform, talking one last time.

"Guys, before I go, I wanted to thank you all for helping out in the Sound Booth." SSBFreak said. "You guys helped us a lot more than you might think."

"Hey. We had a good time." Shadow said. "We'd do it all again if given the chance."

"That's actually what I wanted to ask you." SSBFreak added. "I'd like you guys to come back next year and run the Sound Booth again."

Aila's eyes widened. "You mean it?" She asked excitedly.

"Of course." SSBFreak nodded. "It's the very least I can do for you guys helping our ratings with your song changes."

"Well, we'll be sure to come!" Astaroth said, for once excited about something that didn't involve killing.

"That's good to hear." SSBFreak nodded with a smile. "I'll see you guys next year."

With that, SSBFreak turned around and waked towards the train bound for the his home world. The three others said their goodbyes and got onto their respective trains as well. After SSBFreak was on his train, the doors closed behind him and the train was off. It traveled for about fifty feet before vanishing into a wormhole.

**(Nodal Train) **

As the train flew through the void-like wormhole, the people on board were talking about what had happened in the tournament. While everyone else was talking, SSBFreak sat on a nearby bench, scribbling down a few ideas for next year's tournament.

A smile came onto the blonde man's face.

"Next year is going to be fun."


End file.
